The Secrets She Keeps
by Tsukikoinuhime25
Summary: There are some things you just can't run or hide from. Athena knew this, yet she still buried the ghosts of her past as deep within herself as possible. But when faced with two twins that bring about everything she thought she'd never have, she must also face everything she is and has been through in order to grasp true happiness. SS/OC/SS
1. Chapter 1: Chance Meetings! Twice?

This is a fic that I've had in the works for as long as I've been planning on What's the Worst that Could Happen! It's near and dear to my heart, and I finally got around to posting it! This will chronical one mech's search to find the one thing that even his twin can't give him! Fast paced Sunny/OC, and eventual Sides/OC/Sunny! Hang on for the ride! This story will have very dark content later so for young readers you have been warned! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I stood outside the doors to the berthroom I shared with Sides, audios already ringing from the shrill shrieks of a femme writhing in pleasure, mixing with Sides' pleased grunts. This was the fourth femme in just as many solar cycles!

With a growl I turned and made my way out of our housing unit, desparate to get away from the sounds. It wasn't that I wasn't interested in the carnal pleasures. I was a mech after all. It was just that the femmes Sides had been bringing in lately were beyond annoying.

Their cries of pleasure grated on my audios, and not one had an interest in anything I liked. They were only good for warming our berth.

Even then, I had just lost all interest lately.

When Sides asked I had no explanation for it, other than I couldn't get my coolant flowing. When faced with any one of the femmes he brought home, there just seemed to be no inherent need to frag them anymore.

I sighed as I walked into the center of downtown New Iacon, towards the shopping district.

There was an art store that I really liked not too far from where Sides and I lived. It was a place called Canvas Paradise, and it was a quaint little store. Not too big or popular, but it had quality supplies for anybot that enjoyed art.

The doors slid opened with a beep when I walked in, moving past the store owner. An old dark purple femme, with light red optics, designated Lithium. She waved at me kindly when I stopped beside the counter. "Oh Sunstreaker! It's good to see you again!"

I grunted at her. "Did my order come in yet?"

"Not yet. Shipments are running slow this deca-cycle I'm afraid."

Could my day get any worse? "Any idea when it'll actually be in?"

"I can't say for sure, sometime within the next four orns or so." She smiled at me apologetically.

"Alright." With that I turned and walked into the aisles to look over what she had. I needed to get some canvases since I was running low... Now what sizes to get? Did I feel like working on some complex landscapes? Maybe some portraits?

I dismissed that idea with a snort. "Who would I even want to paint?" Certainly no femmes that I knew...

Maybe something abstract? I could do that on almost any size of canvas really... What about something symbolic? Emotive? So many choices... and so much time to do it all unfortunately.

With a sigh, I grabbed an armful of canvases and turned to make my way back to the counter, only to run into something that knocked them from my arms.

A soft voice squeaked something, followed by the sound of a frame hitting the floor.

Luckily I didn't fall, but thanks to whatever had run into me I now had a small scratch on my lower arm. I scowled at it, then my optics drifted down to a small Praxian femme sitting on the floor. Obviously she was the one that had run into me.

She looked up with a gasp, bright almost crystal blue optics locking with mine. "I-I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean to run into you!"

I grunted as she scrambled to pick up the canvases I had dropped, allowing me to get a better look at her.

Her bright white paint gleamed in the light, shadows being cast upon it periodically from the two sets of door wings on her back. One broad pair that sat atop her shoulders, and a smaller pair that rested at her petite hips. A light gold chevron decorated the front of her helm, which was sleek and rounded.

She had delicate, yet very refined and pretty facial features. I found myself paying extra attention to the soft sweep of her optic ridges, all the way down to her tiny olfactory passage, then down to her soft gold lip plates. Soft, pretty, gentle... not one part of her screamed anything other than petite and gentle.

I knew from spending a lot of time reading bots based on looks alone.

At that moment she held my canvases out to me. "I'm really sorry! Sometimes I just get so absorbed in picking out which canvases to use that I space out a bit!" She babbled in a light, lyrical voice.

The words caught me more though...

A femme... who painted?

I snatched the items from her. "You paint?"

A deep blush came to her cheeks, helm ducking down in obvious embarrassment. "I do actually... b-but I'm not really g-ood at it."

The move drew my attention down to the Autobot symbol that sat on her left breast plate, which I hadn't even noticed before. "Hmm. You're an Autobot?"

She looked up at me again. "Y-Yes I am... I work as a medic now, b-but I was a sharpshooter during the war." Her optics locked on my own Autobot symbol. "You're one too."

"Yeah."

Neither of us said anything after that, just staring at each other awkwardly... Well I was staring down at her since she only came up to my lower chassis, while she stared at me until her blush intensified and she looked away finally.

Only to gasp for some reason. "I scratched your paint!"

Before I could react she snatched my forearm up to examine the small scratch. I tensed, preparing to rip my arm away from her when she pulled a tube of turtle wax from her subspace, and proceeded to buff the scratch out.

A femme who painted and carried detailing items in her subspace? This was two unheard of things happening in one solar cycle! I'd never met a femme who cared about her looks, and shared a common interest with me!

Next she pulled out a tube of gold touch up paint and a small paintbrush, then proceeded to paint over the damaged area. Each small stroke was the result of a delicate flick of her tiny wrist, every movement precise and practiced.

In no time at all she had repaired the paint as well as I would have, and I couldn't stop staring at the back of her helm.

"T-There." She pulled away and placed her materials back in her subspace. "All fixed."

I inspected the area with a critical optic... it was like it was never there. "Thanks..." I trailed off when I looked back up and she was holding my canvases out to me.

Her optics avoided mine. "C-Could I pay for your supplies to make up for the trouble I caused you?"

She wanted to pay for my things? "That's ok..."

Small peds shifted uncomfortably while she looked down at the floor. "Ok..." With that she skirted passed me, towards the back of the aisle I was in.

I watched her go, before shrugging and continuing on my way to the front of the store to check out.

Lithium greeted me with a bright smile. "Did you find everything you were looking for Sunstreaker?"

"Yeah."

It only took her a klik to bag up all my things. "That's good. Your total is two hundred and fifty credits."

I handed her my bank chip, which was run through her register, then handed back to me.

"I will comm you as soon as your order comes in Sunstreaker."

"Alright." With that I turned to leave, almost bowling the little praxian femme over in the process.

She squeaked and scrambled to get out of the way, dropping the various art supplies in her arms all over the floor.

"Oh Athena! Let me help you dear!"

Athena huh?

Before Lithium could make it around the counter I crouched down and helped her grab her things. I wasn't normally polite, but the femme had helped me repair my armor without asking for anything in return. "Sorry."

"I-It's ok... I'm always in s-somebot's way..." She whispered quietly.

It only took a klik to grab all her things, with me cataloguing evrything she had in her basket. Canvases, a sketchbook, oil drawing sticks, charcoal sticks, different kinds of paint, and a new package of paintbrushes.

I stood up and handed them back to her. "Here."

She cradled them against the swell of her chassis. "Thank you."

There was no sense in lingering so I grabbed my bag and walked out without another word. I contemplated where to go as I walked down the sidewalk. Go back home? No. Sides was probably going to be entertaining the femme until nightfall... or knowing my luck even longer...

My HUD flashed with a low fuel warning. Well I guess that my next stop was the energon cafe around the corner. It was another haven of mine when I needed to get out of my housing unit. The place was small, and most of the time it wasn't overly busy, meaning it was also quiet. Now if only some of the femmes that worked there weren't so well acquainted with Sides and I...

I found my usual corner booth and sat down.

One of the waitresses came over to me, a stormy blue colored, femme, with a moderate shade of blue optics, designated Stormstream. At one time she had been one of Sides' favorite femme lovers, and still came around from time to time. She also seemed to have a thing for me too.

An interest that I in no way returned.

"Sunstreaker..." She practically purred as she came to a stop next to my booth. "What can I do for you today?" Innueno practically oozed from the words she spoke.

"Spiced energon." I responded curtly. "And that's it."

She pouted, before turning and making her way back towards the fuel room.

I'd never see what Sides saw in that femme outside of her looks. I mean sure I'd fragged her a few times too, but the luster died down after a few times. All we had in common was an active frag drive. She had no interest in my art, and didn't even know how to hold a decent conversation with anything other than a mech's spike. To top it all off she was too screechy in the berth and it detracted from the overall experience. I liked my audios not to be ringing the day afterwards...

After a few kliks she came back with my energon, and lingered near me. "Are you sure that I can't interest you in a little get together tonight Sunstreaker? I thought you liked my frame?"

I watched her run a digit down over her well endowed chassis languidly, as if it would make me jump her where she stood. "Not interested. Sides might be if you ask him."

She pouted and stomped away to go do something else.

Good riddance!

Nobot bothered me again after that, allowing me to calmly sip at my cube and contemplate everything that had been going on lately. The war was finally over, we were back on Cybertron, the cities were being rebuilt, bots were wandering in abundance... Yet I still couldn't seem to find anything that made me truly happy.

No amount of random interface partners satisfied my needs fully.

Work didn't fulfill me at all. What part of chasing down petty thieves would? I was a fragging War Hero for Primus sake!

Nothing challenged me outside of my art! Nothing gave me the sense of accomplishment anymore!

How could Sides just be happy doing whatever? He had no qualms about being an enforcer, or fragging anything that moved.

When had I changed so much that I did have an issue with living an easy, carefree life? When did it stop being at least somewhat satisfying?

A tired sigh escaped me at the same moment I heard the doors to the cafe open and close. Then a familiar white frame was walking passed where I was sitting, without even glancing at me.

Was it really a coincidence that she was in the same cafe as me, less than half a groon after we had run into each other? Had she followed me?

"Oh Athena!" The owner waved the snow white femme over to the counter. "I wanted to thank you for doing that portrait my mate asked you to do of me! It was absolutely wonderful!"

"You're welcome..." The femme responded back meekly.

"How about I offer you a free slice of spiced rust cake and your pick of my best spiced energon, as payment? Since I know that you won't sell your artwork for credits. Which I still don't understand mind you."

"You don't have to do that!" She stammered. "I can pay for it!"

"Nonsense! Go on and sit down! I'll have Stormstream bring your meal over quick as a nitrous leopard pouncing on a glitch mouse!"

With that the stunned femme was pushed over towards the line of booths, only to freeze when our optics met again.

I put my elbow on the table and leaned my chin on my servo, gesturing with a wave to the seat opposite of me. "Might as well sit here since we keep ending up in the same places today."

She looked around uncertainly, before she pointed at herself shyly. "M-Me? Y-You're talking t-to m-me?"

I grunted. "Is there anybot else standing there?"

Her helm fell as her features morphed into those of embarrassment. "S-Sorry..."

"Just sit down already!"

My sharp command had her scurrying over to sit across from me.

"Primus femme! It doesn't take all day to sit down!"

Bright crystal blue optics drifted down to the tabletop shamefully. "I-I'm sorry..."

"Stop saying that." I groaned.

She opened her mouth a few times, only to close it with a snap when the beginning of another apology started slipping out.

"You apologize too much."

She just stared at me without speaking.

Did she not know how to hold a conversation? I admit, I wasn't the best conversationalist myself. Then again I only spoke to Sides for the most part, or one of the Commanding Officers when work required it. I'd never really had a decent conversation with a femme.

But I couldn't if said femme wouldn't talk without apologizing nonstop. Where to start a decent conversation though?

My optics landed on her bag of art supplies again. As good a pace to start as any. "So, uh, what kind of things do you draw and paint?"

She ducked her helm shyly. "W-ell I, um, do anything really... Lately I've been having some t-trouble with lack of inspiration though..."

I leaned back against the booth seat tiredly. "It happens."

"Yes."

"So what's your designation?" I asked, even though I knew already.

"Athena."

"I'm Sunstreaker."

A faint coating of light blue stained her cheek plates as her optics drifted down to the side. "I-It's nice to meet you Sunstreaker... Even if I did s-cratch your p-paint earlier... Which I'm still sorry about."

For once I wasn't too mad about it since she did take the time to fix it for me, instead of running off without caring about it. "Normally I'd knock somebot's helm off for scratching my paint."

She squeaked and ducked down in her seat.

I raised an optic ridge at her in question. "But you fixed it for me, so I won't do that."

"Oh... that's a relief."

"Yeah. So you can stop hiding."

At that moment Stormstream came over with a tray containing a plate with a slice of bronze rust stick cake, with blue energon flakes, and a cube of spiced energon. She scowled at Athena before sitting her things down on the table. "On a date Sunstreaker? Awww! She's so adorable! I didn't know you were into younglings!" She purred sweetly.

Athena stammered something unintelligibly, obviously not understanding that she was being insulted.

"Don't you have things to do Stormstream?" I snapped at her.

She scowled at me before stomping off towards the other side of the restaurant. "Whatever!"

When I looked back at Athena she was packing up her things. "Where are you going?"

"I'm causing you trouble..."

"No you're not."

She clutched her bag to her chassis and stepped into the aisle. "I should go."

I sighed. "You're really not causing me any trouble Athena. Storm is just being a glitch. Sit down."

She hesitated for a moment, looking at me warily. "You're sure?"

"Sit."

After another klik of fidgeting she sat back down and proceeded to eat her rust cake.

And she didn't seem inclined to do anything else, not even look at me for more than an astrosecond. Every time she did she would look away immediately. To say that she was shy was an understatement. I'd never seen a femme that was so timid before.

What to say? Well she was an Autobot that I had never met before who served in the war, and was now in New Iacon. It was reasonable to believe that she was going to be working in the Autobot headquarters here.

Was that a good place to start? "So... where did you come here from?"

Her optics shot up to mine. "I-I came from New Polyhex."

"New Polyhex? Why were you there?"

She looked down at her plate evasively. "Work... I-they needed medics... in the Autobot headquarters there..."

"Why'd you come here then?"

"W-Well I, um, I-I was helping train some of the new medics there. Since that's d-done, I-I decided to come back here."

"That mean you're gonna be working with Ratchet now?"

"Yes."

"Worried about getting hit with a wrench?"

A soft, barely audible giggle drifted over my audios. "No. I've worked with him before. He's not too bad."

That was a first... "Never been hit before?"

"I-I have... He just normally d-doesn't hit me, because he says I'm not i-idiotic enough to deserve it."

"You don't seem the type to slag him off." I admitted.

She blushed. "N-No... I'm not."

All of a sudden Sides' voice was booming across our twin bond. **(Yo Sunny! Where are you at?)**

I groaned. **(At the cafe Sides. Why?)**

 **(Well because you stormed out of here without saying anything.)**

 **(To get away from the sound of that femme screaming.)** I pointed out irritably.

He didn't feel remotely apologetic. **(Sorry bro! You know how Moonstreak can be! I was giving it to her pretty good today.)**

 **(I could tell...)** I muttered dryly.

 **(Well she had to go home early so it's safe to come back now.)**

 **(I'll be back in a bit.)**

 **(You busy or something? Cuz we do have energon at home you know?)**

 **(I know that. I'll be back in a while, and when I do I expect the smell of interface to be gone from our berthroom.)**

 **(Fine.)**

When I looked across the table Athena had finished her rust cake, and was now sipping at her spiced energon. "Is that rust cake stuff even good?"

She looked at me in surprise. "You've never had it?"

"Obviously not if I asked that."

"Right... well I like it a lot. It's made with grinded rust sticks and mercury, and then drizzled with spiced energon flakes. You could... try it...?"

"Couldn't hurt I guess." And my energon levels were still not topped out.

Before I could raise my arm to call a waitress, Athena had already done so. "Could we have another slice of the spiced rust cake please?"

Luckily it wasn't Stormstream that had come over this time, but some pale pink femme that I had never seen before. Even better was the fact that she just took the order and brought it back to the table without speaking a single word.

I stared down at the bronze hunk of crushed rust sticks, mercury, with spiced energon flakes topping it. After growing up in the pits of Kaon, then living through a war where energon was scarce, I hadn't really tried many different things. Spiced energon was something that I was still getting used to.

Athena stared at me over her own cube of energon. "Umm... is something wrong?"

My lips tilted down into a scowl. "No."

"Well... it's best to eat that when it's warm... I-If you wait too long it'll get cold."

"I know that."

She looked down at the table. "Sorry. I-I'll shut up now."

I stopped poking at the cake and looked up at her sullen expression. For some reason the thought that I had upset her bothered me. "I wasn't... well I didn't mean..."

"It's ok."

Well if she said so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Instead I cut off a small piece of the bronze hunk and brought it to my mouth. As I chewed the piece, the best way to describe the initial taste was to compare it to the one time that Sides had made me do something called the Cinnamon Challenge when we were in our holoforms.

Only this wasn't nearly as strong as that, and it had a strong hint of something sweet, probably from the mercury. It actually wasn't bad.

"D-Do you like it?"

"It's not bad."

"It took me some time to get used to it too..."

Conversation died down mostly after that, only an occasional comment here or there. Most femmes needed to run their mouths nonstop, but this one only spoke when I asked her a question. She was very quiet. It was actually refreshing compared to the shriekers Sides brought around.

Eventually the sun started setting, and Athena stood to leave. "It's getting late, I should go."

Yeah me too... before Sides came to track me down. "Me too."

With that she turned to leave, without looking back at me again even once.

I stood and paid my portion of the bill, before making my way out as well.

Maybe I'd see her again on base?

* * *

R&R! Please let me know if you like it!


	2. Chapter 2: Frustrations

An interesting start to this fic huh? Athena is an intersting femme, shy, quiet, timid, and very smart. Doesn't seem like the kind of femme that either of the twins would be interested in huh? Well looks can be deceiving and sometimes bots can surprise us! She's a perfect match for them! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Patrol... patrol... and more patrols... I couldn't decide whether that was better or worse than comms duty at the moment. Sit at a monitor all day, or get in trouble for being overly violent with some thieving punk? Prowl had already gotten after me three times in the last deca-cycle for that.

Well maybe if those slaggers would stop trying to get violent back, and in doing so scratching my paint, I wouldn't punch them until they fell into stasis!

Sides was so amused with my attitude right now. **(You really need to get laid bro. When was the last time you got any?)**

 **(Just shut up and concentrate on getting through your patrol shift!)**

 **(Nooo... Not until you answer me! Seriously when was the last time?)**

 **(Four or five deca-cycles ago. Now leave me alone!)**

 **(Wow... I haven't gone that long without since the war! No wonder you're so fragging crabby! Look I'll set you up with somebot tonight ok?)**

Primus no! Not another screechy femme that sounded like Starscream trying to bark orders at a battalion of stupid vehicons. **(No thanks! Every femme you bring around sounds like a femme version of Starscream and it makes me want to purge!)**

Amusement wafted through our bond. **(They aren't that bad Sunny.)**

 **(They are that bad Sides. A good frame is nice, but I don't like them screeching so hard that my audios take an entire quartex to recover from it!)**

 **(That just means you're doing it right!)**

 **(No that means that they're easy. For once I'd like a femme that's not going to overload as soon as I spike her!)**

 **(I personally like it when they do that.)** I felt the perverted grin that went along with that statement.

 **(You would.)**

I grumbled sourly as I turned a corner near the rec room, hearing Sides laughing from his end of the bond. It did nothing to better my mood at present. What I really needed was a nice cube of high grade right about now.

Too bad I didn't have any, and there was no place to get it on base.

The rec room appeared to be empty when I walked in, but as I filled a cube and sat down at a table facing the far wall I saw Athena sitting in the corner.

She obviously hadn't noticed me because she had her face buried in a sketchbook, coal stick furiously moving as the sound of scratching filled the room. Her optics were visibly moving across the page, focusing on one point every few astroseconds or so.

 **(Sunny...)** Sides sang over the bond obnoxiously.

And just like that I was glaring down at my energon cube again. **(Sides... leave me alone!)**

 **(But I found a femme that I think you'll like to spend some time with this evening!)**

Primus... not another one... **(No. Just no.)**

 **(But she's way hot.)**

 **(Most of them are thanks to them spending a lot of credits to make themselves look that way.)**

 **(But she's one we've never fragged before! I'll show you what she looks like!)**

An image formed in my helm, of a tall well endowed red Iaconian femme, with curves everywhere I'd normally like, and dark blue optics. She was definitely good to look at, but once again I just wasn't interested in her.

 **(Come on Sunny! At least give her a chance before you turn her away!)**

 **(No.)**

 **(Please! Please! I'll invite her over and we can both do the deed with her!)**

 **(No!)**

 **(Just try her out! Maybe she'll help you get over this funk you're in!)**

 **(Sides...)**

 **(Just try! If she doesn't work out I promise not to bother you with another femme for a deca-cycle!)**

 **(You won't bother me for that long regardless of whether I like her or not? Promise?)**

 **(I promise. Is that a date then?)**

 **(Whatever.)**

 **(Alright cool! I'll see you tonight around 18:00 joors then? That's when she'll be over.)**

 **(I said fine.)**

 **(Cool! See ya then!)**

"Great... another pointless _**date**_..." I practically spat the word. None of these femmes were interested in anything other than using the two of us to sate their every fragging desire. What Sides saw in his most recent partners I would never know.

With a sigh I stood to toss my empty cube into the trash bin, turning to make my way to the comms deck. Only to run smack into something, or somebot if the cry of surprise was anything to go by.

Once again I was met with the sight of Athena sprawled out on the floor, only in the rec room this time... She was laying on her back, limbs and wings spread out, and a dazed look in those bright blue optics.

"Oh..."

I grunted. "Are you going to run into me every time we see each other?"

She gasped when her optics locked on me, scrambling up from the floor. "I-I'm sorry! I d-don't mean to keep running into you!"

"Clearly." I muttered while eyeing another armful of things she had dropped. Including her sketchbook which was open, the page showing an unfinished sketch of what looked to be a... stream glider? "Why are you drawing a stream glider?"

Horrified optics snapped down to her sketchbook, and in a flash she had it cradled against her chassis. "N-No reason!" She blushed deeply.

I raised an optic ridge at her, which made her shift on her peds nervously. It was at that moment that I realized she had a good sized heel on each ped, which I hadn't noticed before. I only briefly paid any attention to it, because I noticed that when she had run into me some part of her armor had caught on my thigh and scratched it. "Great, another scratch. Now I'm going to be late getting to my shift on the comms deck."

"I'm sorry! I'm r-really really sorry!"

With a grunt I went to pull some wax and polish from my subspace, when she spoke up again.

"Um, I can... fix that..."

I froze just short of the cloth touching my scratched armor, optics drifting up to her face again. She wasn't looking at my face, her helm was bowed down and her optics were locked my my damaged armor. "I have the stuff to fix it right here."

She shifted nervously again. "Well yeah, but, um... I-I was the one that d-damged it in the first place! So I just... thought that... you shouldn't have to f-fix it yourself. I'm responsible."

Well I could ignore her and do it myself, or I could let her use her stuff to fix the scratch. Normally I didn't like being touched more than necessary, but she was offering and it wasn't like she could really hurt me.

That and she did good detailing work.

I put my supplies back in my subspace. "Fine."

She smiled shakily. "O-Ok! Well I don't have my detailing stuff on me today... so are you ok with coming back to my room?"

I would have said yes, but a quick glance at my chronometer informed me that I didn't have time to do that. If I did I would be late for my comms duty shift in less than a breem, and then Prowl would dock my pay again.

"Don't have time. Comms shift in less than a breem."

"O-Oh..."

I grunted. "Yeah. Thanks anyways though."

With that I left her there and made my way to the comms deck. Another long and fruitless shift of monitoring communications...

Here I come...

* * *

I stood outside the door to my housing unit later that night, listening to the obnoxious laughter coming from a femme on the other side of the door. Just from the sound I could tell that she was faking amusement, and that her voice would no doubt grate on my circuits.

With a sigh I steeled myself to make my way inside.

"Sunny!" Sides greeted me eagerly as I stomped into the living area.

"Sides."

He gestured at the bright red femme sitting beside him, staring at me with obvious interest.

She giggled. "Is that your brother?"

Well no slag you idiot glitch.

"Yeah it is. So what do you think?"

A seductive purr escaped the femme as she stood and circled me with a predatory gaze. Servos randomly ghosting over my frame in various places as she pressed a little closer than I wanted.

She finally circled back around in front of me, dark blue optics leering at me with promises of things I would normally want. "I think... he's a fine specimen."

Small servos took hold of me and tugged me over to sit on the couch.

Sides grinned at me over her shoulder. **(So what do you think? A fine looking femme, eh? Hopefully she's as good in the berth as she looks!)**

Maybe if I could get passed the sound of her voice she would be... It wasn't horrible compared to some of the other femmes Sides had brought home before. The tone of it was not too loud, but she was still too screechy for me.

 **(Then turn your audios off in the berth. That way you get what you need, and you don't have to listen to them screaming. I personally like it though, so I don't get why you have an issue with it now.)**

 **(Because it gives me a helm-ache!)**

 **(You're being overdramatic again.)**

 **(Says you! Who is this glitch anyways?**

 **(Designation is Flannery.)**

Well Flannery chose that moment to turn towards me expectantly. "So... what are you called handsome?"

Sides answered her when I just scowled at her. "His designation is Sunstreaker... and he's an aft. But you'll learn to love it eventually."

She reached out to feel my chassis up with a purr. "Oh I think I do already... He's absolute physical perfection... Two perfect mechs... how lucky I am."

How lucky she'd be not to lose that servo if she kept touching me without my permission!

"So Sunstreaker... your brother tells me that you paint. Do you think you could do a portrait of me sometime? I wouldn't mind posing in my protoform for you... The picture would probably sell well... don't you think?"

"I do." Sides waggled his optic ridges at her pervertedly.

And I didn't... The idea didn't even appeal to me. In fact this situation wasn't appealing to me either... Sure she was nice to look at, but that was where any interest ended. I could frag her just to get Sides to lay off, and that idea did appeal to me somewhat.

But then she had to go and ruin everything by shifting and scuffing my chassis.

I practically exploded. "WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING YOU OVERLY GLOSSED GLITCH!"

Sides' jaw dropped, and Flannery or whatever her designation was gasped in outrage. "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" She shrieked at me.

"HOW DARE I TALK TO YOU LIKE WHAT? LIKE YOU DESERVE TO BE SPOKEN TO?"

She leapt up with an enraged hiss, forcing Sides to get between us to prevent her from getting hurt. "Whoa now! Let's all calm down!"

 **(What's gotten into you Sunny?!)**

 **(She scuffed my armor!)**

 **(Yeah but you've never exploded at a potential frag partner that fast just because she scuffed your armor! It always gets scuffed up during and then you just polish it after!)**

 **(Well I don't feel like polishing it again today! I already did that enough for one solar cycle!)**

His shock filtered through the bond. **(You're actually complaining about the prospect of polishing yourself again?!)**

 **(Yes! My finish was flawless and then she went and messed it up!)**

He just stared at me. **(Now I'm really worried about you bro. Something's wrong with you.)**

I just growled before storming out of the housing unit with no real destination in mind. Ignoring all of Sides' attempts to contact me over the bond.

Somehow I ended up at the same booth in the cafe I frequented often.

This time Stormstream wasn't working so I didn't even have to worry about her bothering me.

Add that to the fact that the place was mostly empty, and it offered all the peace and quiet I needed.

Staring out the window at the glass panes that made up the buildings of New Iacon, while comparing the way they were now to the way they used to be after Iacon was destroyed during the way. For some reason I found myself wanting to paint both scenes, to remind myself of how bad things could get, and how good they were now.

There were bots everywhere, milling about in the streets. Some in their alt modes, and others were walking their sparklings down the streets.

Life was supposed to be good.

But to me it was still missing something.

It was always missing something.

Even with all the prospects all around, nothing was there to draw me in.

Other than Sides and my art, nothing was truly worth living for.

What a dismal prospect.

"Sunstreaker?"

I turned my helm to regard the femme standing next to my booth. Did she frequent all the places I did or something? "You're here too?"

She scuffled her peds across the floor. "I-I come here almost every solar cycle."

"I can see that."

"I'm bothering you."

To tell the truth she actually didn't bother me at all really. Bots had to talk excessively to do that, and she rarely spoke more than two words at a time really. "No. Not really."

A faint dusting of blue crept into her cheek plates.

"Go ahead and sit."

She gave a small grateful smile before sitting down across from me again.

"Don't you ever refuel at the base? They have a rec room with an energon dispenser. Seems stupid to walk all the way across town when you live right down the hall from it." I pointed out.

Surprisingly enough she actually giggled, the sound something akin to tinkering bells. "True."

"Then why do you come all the way out here?"

She sat back and looked out the window. "Because the night lights of New Iacon cast so many different colors across the panes of glass that make up all the buildings. It's so beautiful."

Well I wasn't expecting such a long or in depth answer, but she spoke fact. The night lights of New Iacon were multi faceted, and they cast various illuminations off of the glass panes of the buildings. Sometimes it reminded me of the Aurora Borealis on Earth. I'd never expected anything on that planet to be beautiful, then I had seen that phenomenon.

The colors weren't quite as diverse as the night lights of the city, but equally enchanting to look at.

She saw things from an artist's perspective.

"Well that, and it's nice to get away from things that are stressful." She continued almost absently. "Sometimes I could pull out my sketchbook and sit here drawing every little detail of what I see out there. Especially when I think that this place was almost lost forever. It makes it even more spectacular."

All of a sudden she turned towards me with an embarrassed look on her features. "Sorry! I-I just... sometimes I... j-just get talking about stuff..." She rambled nonstop.

"It's fine. Listening to another artist talking about their own inspiration isn't an inconvenience."

"I'm not... an artist..."

My optic ridges furrowed as confusion ate away at me. "From what I've seen and heard I'd say that you are."

"No. Saying that would imply that I'm good at it. I like art but I'm horrible at it."

"That sketch I saw earlier was good." I pointed out. Very good in fact, it had surprised me. Well the fact that it was so good, and what she had drawn. A stream glider... Why would anybot want to draw one of those?

Her servos shot up to cup her stained cheeks. "N-No it wasn't!"

Ok... so she didn't like being complimented? What kind of femme was she? Normally they'd be preening by this point, but she looked mortified that I had made a good comment about her.

Light blue optics drifted up to mine shamefully. "I'm sorry for getting so flustered... It's just, that sketch wasn't done yet... I didn't mean for anybot to see it."

"Clearly."

A waitress came over at that moment to take her order, then left to bring her spiced energon back. She returned with it a moment later, then left to go wait other tables. Leaving the two of us alone again.

"You..." Athena started hesitantly. "really thought it was good?"

Obviously she was referring to my comment about her sketch. "Yeah. Still trying to figure out why you were sketching a stream glider though."

The edges of her soft gold lips tilted up in a small smile. "I have my reasons."

I snorted, before taking a drink from my own cube. "Don't we all."

It got really quiet after that, with both of us drinking our energon in complete silence.

Which she surprisingly broke for once. "Um, did you hear about that new gallery opening up on fifth?"

I perked up with interest. "No I didn't. I was hoping that one would open up eventually though."

"Me too. It's opening in a little over half a deca-cycle I think. Some of the best works from a few up and coming artists from all over Cybertron are going to be there."

"Sounds like it'll be worth going to see." Maybe I should think about selling some of my pieces? Like that would ever happen... I painted for my own personal pleasure, not for the credits.

"I thought so too."

I'd have to look into it and make plans to go see it on opening night.

We talked for a while longer, before she had to leave, and I decided to head back home as well. Sides hadn't stopped bugging me since I had left the housing unit.

She turned towards me just outside the doors. "M-Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'm off for the next two solar cycles."

"Oh..."

"But I'll probably see you around after."

The small that she gifted me with was small but bright. "Ok. Bye!" With that she took off down the street at a fast pace.

Leaving me to stare after her until she finally disappeared from sight.

That femme was something else.

I turned and made my way back to my place, which upon entering was lacking a certain red femme. Instead Sides was sitting in front of the TV playing some shooting game.

I didn't know whether to be relieved that she was gone, or irritated with my twin's loud yelling.

He looked up at me as I ambled through the doorway. "There you are! You had me worried you aft!"

I grunted. "Where's your nightly conquest?"

"Well she took off after I cussed her out for talking scrap about you. Seems she doesn't like her nightly partners siding against her."

I plopped down next to him with a sigh. "They normally don't."

He paused the game and turned towards me worriedly. "What's wrong with you lately bro? You're so uptight all the time, and it doesn't seem like you want to do anything you normally like doing. Pit! It seems like you don't really want to spend time with me lately either!"

His loneliness echoed through our bond, making me feel badly for the bridge that had formed between us. I had been so stressed with things lately, that I had neglected to spend any time with him at all. "I'm sorry Sides... It's just that I don't feel like having femmes screeching in my audios lately. I just need some time to sort things out in my helm, and you bringing a new femme in here every night isn't helping. They annoy me."

"I'm sorry Sunny. I didn't know it was bothering you that much."

"Well it is. I don't know how you can stand it."

He smirked. "I love the cries of a femme lost in the throes of pleasure. It's a major turn on."

"Yes, but when they sound like Starscream glitching it's a major turn off." I grumbled.

Tossing his helm back with a laugh, my twin nearly fell off the couch with the force of the movement. "S-Stars-cream! Star-scream g-glitching?! Do they really sound like that to you?!"

"Yes."

He laughed for another few kliks before settling down. "Oh wow... If they sounded the same way to me I wouldn't want to frag them either!"

"Now you see my problem."

He shrugged. "I think that's only part of it bro. But if it makes you feel better I can do the deed at their places sometimes too."

"Please do."

"As long as you promise that we can spend some time together when you're home!"

Anything as long as he stopped bringing those glitches here! "Deal. We'll spend more time together when we're off work."

He grinned and held a game controller up for me to take. "Let's start now! I'm gonna kick your aft in COV."

"You're on!"

* * *

R&R! Haha! We end with the twins playing some video games! Poor Sunny is about to have his world rocked to its core, because of a pretty little praxian femme. This story is in no way a slow build romance. It's going to start next chapter! Look forward to it!


	3. Chapter 3: Apartment Hunting!

I wasn't going to update so soon but I figured that I might as well! We're going to get into Athena's POV for the first time! Let's all get a good look into how her processor functions! Not too much backstory going on until later, but we can have fun watching these two explore the other's likes and dislikes. I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! ALSO SPARKY IS MINE! There is also some fanart on Moonlightdeer's deviantart account! So if you want to see what Athena looks like go to her page!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I always hated mornings...

Getting up to face another painful day...

Staring at my reflection in the mirror and hating the way I looked.

Hating how I could look into the clear glass and imagine every bad thing that had ever happened to me, like I was literally seeing all of my pain reflecting off of the surface.

And I could never get away from all the things I was afraid of, or the parts of me that I hated.

I'd never see what anybot could ever see in me. I was short, plain, unattractive... There was not one thing that really stood out on my frame.

Dual door wings twitched in the glass, dropping with sadness. My soft gold chevron was small and non-spectacular, and my features were too petite. I was no drop-dead gorgeous femme.

Which I was often told.

I sighed as a small weight settled on my shoulder. "At least you love me huh Sparky?"

My little stream glider looked at me with his dark green optics, decorated with little blue spots, and miniscule stripes of the same color near the outter edges. His armor was a dark shade of blue, littered with bright yellow spots and stripes. Calling it armor was a bit of an exaggeration, it was more like some plates that protected only essential areas, leaving most of his frame made up of visible protoform.

He clicked at me cutely.

I giggled at the way he cocked his helm at me. "Yeah... you do..."

If I didn't have to go apartment hunting I'd stay with Sparky all day long, but obviously I couldn't do that. I needed to find a place to stay that wasn't on base, a place of my own that I could go to for some peace and quiet. There just wasn't enough space in this small room to top it all off.

For that reason I quickly fed Sparky his sweet energon, before placing him on a perch in his cage. "You be good ok?"

He scurried into a small heated glider house situated on a crystal branch.

"Recharge well."

With that I turned and left my room. First stop was the rec room... which I hoped was empty. Even if it wasn't I had to refuel, so my mission if there were bots present, would be to get around them without being noticed.

And of course I heard the familiar sounds of mechs carrying on as I drew closer. Why was there always somebot there when I needed to get my morning energon?

It was a madhouse inside. A team of wreckers were playing lob ball, a group of femmes were gossiping near the dispenser, and various other bots were spread out around the room. I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and plastered myself against the wall, door wings spread out as I inched along the edge of the room.

My spark was racing at speeds that weren't healthy, and I was on the verge of having a panic attack. The walls seemed to be closing in, and it felt like everybot was staring dead at me when I knew that they weren't.

Chassis heaving, vents rattling, coolant pooled at the edges of my optics.

So many bots...

So many mechs...

They were all staring at me!

Why did they always have to stare at me?

"Athena?"

I nearly screamed in fear as I spun to face the newcomer, only to freeze when my optics landed on my good friend Arcee. She raised a purple optic ridge at me in question when I just stared at her.

She took a step closer and put a servo on my forearm. "Are you okay Thena?"

I released a heavy vent. "Yeah... Just... having my normal issues..."

"Let's sit down away from everybot else then." With that she tugged me over to sit at a corner table far from everybot else. "I'll go grab some energon real quick. Be right back!" She skated over to the dispenser, dodging roughhousing mechs on her way.

While she was gone I curled into my self in anxiety. Why did there always have to be crowds whenever I needed to come here?

A wave of calm and comfort suddenly hit me. **(Calm down Athena.)**

 **(Sorry Opiluck.)**

 **(Do not be. I know of your dislike for large groups, and merely wanted to calm you down.)**

Of course he did... he was always checking in on me and making sure that I was ok. It was a nice feeling, but sometimes I was sure that my presence was a burden on not just him but danniluk too.

Her voice lilted through my helm next. **(You are not a burden sweetspark.)**

 **(Sorry...)**

 **(Don't apologize! Look, how about I come and sit with you and Arcee for morning energon? We need to spend some time together!)**

 **(Ok...)**

 **(And I will come too.)**

Cee returning with two cubes distracted me from the conversation. "And... I'm back!" She plopped down and handed one to me with an optic ridge raised in question. "You look like a sparkling does when they fold in on themselves!"

"Ha... very funny..." I muttered sarcastically.

"I wasn't being serious."

"Yeah I know that."

She leaned back in her seat casually. "So... how are you liking New Iacon? I thought I'd never see you again after they requested to have you work in New Polyhex."

I glanced around at the spacious room we were in discrettely. "It's... ok... I guess." As ok as any place I had ever been to. The only thing that made it better was the fact that I was with bots that I hadn't seen since before the exodus. Bots that had proven to be some of the very few that I could trust.

Arcee was one of the only friends I had, her down to earth personality was something that I could always rely on. She would listen when I needed to talk, or give advice when I had need of that as well. But she also had a habit of pushing me to come out of my comfort zones, to become something better than I was. So far her attempts were mostly unsuccessful.

Cee's older sister Flareup was pretty easy to get along with when she wasn't terrorizing the base with explosions, which always sent me running the other way. She was loud, fiery, and everything that I kind of wished I was. Confident, beautiful, smart...

Chromia was the oldest of the three sisters, and a femme who was tough as nails. But she could also be sweet and attentive when she needed to be. I could go to her when I needed to.

The three sisters were so pretty, and sensual... I wished I was like them.

Then there was Ratchet, who I worked with and had trained me from a young age. He was like an uncle to me, always grumbling at me or scolding me when I did something wrong. When we had first met I spent most of my time being terrified of him due to his temper.

And that was it for the most part... besides my adoptive creators.

But they were normally so busy that lately I hadn't seen much of them.

A bright pink frame plopped down beside me gracefully. "Well we will have to change that won't we sweetspark?"

I glanced up at the face of Elita-1, my adopted carrier. Sometimes she reminded me of my real carrier with her warm smiles. It made me miss my real danni more, while simultaneously being grateful that I at least had Elita now.

"I guess so..."

She wrapped an elegant arm around my shoulders, being careful of my door wings. "That's the spirit. I was thinking that the two of us could go hunting for a place for you to live today?"

Oh that... So far finding a place that I liked was harder than expected. My wish list wasn't too extensive, a quiet building, at least two berthrooms so that I could use one as a studio, and a bay window so that I could look out over the streets of New Iacon. But no place seemed to have what I wanted.

Some buildings seemed perfect, but were far too busy for my tastes.

Others lacked a second berthroom, or had too many.

Some had everything but lacked the bay window that I really wanted...

And others were more credits than I wanted to pay.

"I still don't understand what was wrong with the place we went to see the other day." Cee pointed out. "Other than it was too big, and too expensive. Which I don't get seeing as you make good credits as a senior medic, on top of your mission commissions."

Danniluk hummed thoughtfully. "It was a nice apartment. The granite floors were brand new and looked wonderful..."

I cringed internally. Yeah they were very nice, and way too high end for me... On top of the place being far too big for anything that I needed, seeing as how it was just Sparky and I who were going to be living there. Four berthrooms was way too much. "It just wasn't what I was looking for."

At that moment Opiluck came striding into the room, blue and red paint gleaming under the overhead lights. He dodged the same roughhousing mechs who were continuing to carry on, and made his way to our table. "Sweetspark. Sparklet. Arcee." He greeted us, before sitting down next to danniluk. "What are you three discussing?"

"Finding an apartment for your stubborn femme." Danni tsked at me playfully.

"Ah... I remember hearing something about that. You are quite picky my spark."

My door wings hitched with frustration. "I just want somewhere that I can be comfortable in. Not too big, or loud. That's all that I want."

"And one of those big bay windows for the artistic inspiration that you keep from public knowledge." Cee pointed out amusedly.

My face heated up in a blush. "S-Shut up!"

"I still don't see why you hide your talent when you're so good at it." She continued on anyways. "Prime even has your works hanging in his office."

"Because he's my Opiluck."

"No. I hang them in my office because they are amazing works of art." He corrected me.

Sure... It was only because he was supposed to like everything I did. I swiftly changed the subject. "So what about apartment hunting? Cee will probably come with me."

Both of my creators stared at me knowingly, but otherwise let the subject drop. "I believe that Optimus has a meeting today, but I can come with you. We will find you someplace by the end of the day!"

And... now she was being overzealous again. "Ok."

"Do you have any likely prospects picked out Thena?"

"A few." I admitted quietly.

She leapt to her peds. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's rev some engines and get it done!"

Before I could protest she grabbed mine and danniluk's arms, then tugged us out of our seats and out the door. "Cee!" I squeaked at her.

Danni just laughed. "I guess we are going now."

A sigh slid passed my lips... Yeah I guess so...

* * *

A few joors later, and just as many apartment seen, we still hadn't found anything that I liked. Each place was either too big, too small, or horribly decorated. There weren't many options for places close to the base, which was preferable since I was often on call in case of emergencies.

Luckily we could push out a little farther, since I was pretty fast when I needed to be. Not too far, since astroseconds could be the difference between life and death for a patient.

So far Cee had dragged us to half a dozen listed places. How many more would she drag us to before giving up? Knowing her she'd never stop until I finally picked something.

"Come on Thena! Stop being so picky and just pick a place already!"

"I want something that I'll like living in."

She rolled her optics, and pulled us into another apartment building. "You are going to find something today!"

Danni looked down at me, amused if the feelings coming through the bond were any indication. "It's only about five kliks from the base if you're walking." She pointed out cheerfully. "That puts you close by in case Ratchet needs your help."

"True."

After checking in with a femme at the front desk, we were led up three flights of stairs, down a hallway, to an apartpment at the end.

"This unit was just given a top to bottom remodel!" Our guide gushed over enthusiastically. "We just had new white marble floors and support beams put in throughout."

She led us inside of what was definitely a high end apartment...

A moderate shade of white marble decorated the floors throughout most of the apartment, winding all the way up to the ceiling support beams, and even covering the walls. It gave the place a somewhat luxurious look.

Cee looked around in awe for a moment, before grinning at me. "It matches your armor!"

"You're very observant."

"I try."

"If you come in here there is a fuel prep area, we outfitted it with heated slate floors."

The room wasn't huge, but then again it didn't need to be. The slate floors were a collage of different shades of white and gold, while the walls remained white marble. The counters were a black granite, and the storage cabinets were made of the same material as the walls.

"Oh wow..." Danniluk looked around impressed.

Maybe this was a little too high end for me...? But before I could voice the thought we were being ushered back out into the living room.

"There's a large bay window here with a bench built into it! It overlooks downtown New Iacon!"

I stared out the huge wall-to-wall window in awe... I could see everything from up here!

"BAY WINDOW! SOLD!"

The sudden yell startled me. "Cee! Shush!"

"It has the window! You turn down every option because it doesn't have your stupid window! Well this one does!"

Our escort looked smug. "It also has one in one of the berthrooms."

Cee tossed her arms up. "It has not just one but two! Two! How much better can this place be for you?!"

"Maybe we should look at both of the berthrooms before making any decisions?"

"Spoil sport..."

"It's perfectly reasonable to see the whole place before deciding to buy!"

"Why don't we look at the berthrooms and wash racks, then we can figure something out?" The sales femme offered.

Our first stop was the larger of the two berthrooms, which was decorated the same way as the rest of the place so far, but had no bay window. Instead there was a good sized window where the top of my berth would rest... which I would have to put curtains over.

Next was the smaller berthroom, which had another bay window! I could sit and stare out of it and paint all day!

Cee elbowed me in the side. "Admit that you like it..."

"Could that window be in a more perfect place?" It was official... this was going to be my studio!

"We still have a wash racks to see."

Danniluk pulled me out of the room. "Come on sweetspark, you'll have plenty of time to sit in this room later."

Next we were shown a shiny new wash racks with heated black slate floors, outfitted with a huge jet tub with a glass panel that would slid shut if I wanted to shower. A long counter stretched the length of the wall opposite of the shower, with a large oval shaped mirror directly over a huge silver sink.

"I so wanna move in here..."

"Maybe I'll talk to Optimus about buying this place before you can." Danni joked.

Ok... maybe a little on the high end wasn't a bad thing...

After we were led back down to the living room our guide turned towards me expectantly. "Well? What do you think?"

Cee and Danniluk looked at me in question.

I vented heavily. "Ok... I'll take it."

"YES! FINALLY!"

"I'll sort some things out and get back to you in a quartex or so, then you can come down and sign some things. Sound good?"

Something occurred to me then. "How good are the locks on the doors and windows?"

"State of the art, and you get to choose the code so only you would have it, unless the building owner needed to get in to let maintenance in. Even then you can change it at any time if you wish."

Well that was about as secure as anybot could get... The real question was would it work for me?

It wasn't like there were any better options, and maybe I wouldn't have to be so paranoid that _**they**_ were somehow still alive and would find me here.

No place was ever too safe but...

If anywhere was safe it was here...

* * *

After a long day of house hunting Cee, Danni, and I went our separate ways after arriving back on base. I returned to my room so that I could take Sparky out with me on a walk. He rarely got out of our small cramped room, so I decided to take him to the cafe.

While I walked he snuggled in between the armor that curved up to protect the sensitive cables at the back of my neck, occasionally clicking at something we passed.

Luckily Zenarith let me bring my little stream glider in when I refueled.

Too bad when I walked in she was nowhere in sight, and only a few waitresses were working. Including the same stormy blue femme that had implied that I was here on a date with Sunstreaker. I blushed and scurried over to a booth in the back, far away from her.

Luckily she didn't seem to notice me, and another femme came over to take my order, then returned with it a few kliks later. Leaving me blessedly alone afterwards.

I sipped at the sweet energon in my cube, while simultaneously pushing around the hunk of bronze cake on my plate. In a quartex I had to go sign the lease on my new apartment, and afterwards I was free to move in as soon as I wanted.

I'd already made plans to have my things moved in the next solar cycle after finishing the legalities. Cee was already planning on shopping trip to pick out more garniture, and my danniluk had already offered to come with, and pay for anything I wanted.

I really hated it when they felt obligated to do all these things for me.

While I was sitting there staring at my plate, a shadow was cast on my booth.

Door wings twitching in shock when I looked up into the bright blue optics of Sunstreaker. Every time I saw him I was taken in by the shine of his armor, and his sheer size compared to mine.

He was tall, well built, but not overly so. His helm was black, with two audio fins sticking out on each side, and gold vents lining the interior. A section of his shoulders were also black, and his forearms and pelvic armor were black as well. While the rest of him was predominantly gold, with the exception being a splash of red on his shoulders, and the red Autobot symbol on his chassis.

If I had to say so... I'd say that he was handsome.

As soon as the thought made its' way through my processor I ducked my helm with a blush.

Without a word he plopped down across from me. "Long day?" He asked quietly.

I felt myself becoming extremely nervous, which was a bad trait of mine when talking to somebot that I hadn't known for long. Well when I was talking to most bots in general, and so far Cee and Danni had not been able to break me of that habit.

Ok... I could do this! I could sit here and talk to him like I'd done a few times before! There was no reason to get nervous!

All of a sudden the booth table was hit by something, causing it to rock harshly and send my things flying onto the floor. I jolted, looking up at Sunstreaker who was pressed as far back against the booth as he could possibly be, with a ball of blue and yellow stream glider clinging to his face.

Sunstreaker all but exploded. "GLITCH MOUSE!" And then he started swatting at my little stream glider.

My spark nearly stopped... "SPARKY NO!"

Sparky screeched, sparking lightly and shocking the mech when he accidentally smacked him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sunstreaker yelled as his frame convulsed from the charge.

I quickly grabbed Sparky up as soon as he stopped shocking our company. "NO! BAD SPARKY!"

Sunstreaker just sat there, staring at us in a daze, as electricity lit off across his frame for another klik or so.

"Oh n-no! A-Are you o-okay?!" I was so worried that I could hardly get the words out!

He opened his mouth and coughed out a cloud of smoke, "Stream... glider..."

"Yeah..."

"That's why you were drawing one..."

"Y-Yeah..."

"And you called it... Sparky?"

I smiled shakily. "I-I guess it... fit? Are you okay?"

He looked at me, then at Sparky, and finally down at his servo which had the paint burned off of it. "Why is it that everytime I run into you some part of my paint gets chipped or burned off?"

A laugh suddenly bubbled up in my chassis, causing me to cup a servo over my mouth to try concealing the noise. But it seemed like it didn't work because Sunstreaker was staring at me weirdly now. "I-I guess that I... should always carry my detailing kit... j-just in case I run into you again?"

His lips tilted up in a smirk. "Yeah. That'd probably be a good idea."

Definitely!

* * *

R&R!


	4. Chapter 4: Not a Date! Right!

Poor Sunny is about to have his world rocked! You're all about to see how so I won't spoil it for you! Poor mech and his obsessive tendencies... they will not meld well for him here. I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! This chapter references some characters from Moonlightdeer's fanfics! Just a fair warning before we start!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Why was it that seeing Athena laughing had seemingly been permanently etched into my processor? No matter how hard I tried not to remember the way her optics had sparkled, or the way her laughter sounded like tinkering bells, I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

And to make matters worse she seemed to be everywhere I went!

In the rec room when I refueled on base.

Working on the comms deck when I was!

One time I had even been hurt during a spar, and ended up being tended to in the med bay by her!

No matter where I went she was always there. But what bothered me more was the fact that I didn't feel the need to go to great lengths to scare her off, or avoid her. If anything I spent quite a chunk of my time talking to her about different things the past few solar cycles.

The topics ranged from what pieces we were working on, to the new Art Gallery that was opening up in a solar cycle, to what types of wax and polish we liked to use. I found that she was quite clumsy and unobservant when she was preoccupied, which was why she often ran into me.

A few times the thought of scaring her when she had her face buried into a data pad appealed to me, but I decided to go against it. Pulling stupid pranks was more Sides thing than mine.

The point that I was trying to make, was that I actually got along with her for some reason. She tolerated me even when I was moody, and wasn't put off by it like most bots were. When I was in a mood she just left me to my own devices and didn't pry, but would talk to me if I decided I felt like seeking her out.

Her presence calmed me a good deal. I couldn't really figure out why.

But whatever the reason I kept getting the idea in my helm to ask her if she wanted to come to the gallery with me on opening night. Not as a date, but as two bots who could appreciate a find work of art.

The only problem was that I hadn't seen her at all today. Or yesterday for that matter.

Not on base or at the cafe we both seemed to frequent daily.

Too bad I didn't know where her room was on base, otherwise I'd go find her there and ask.

Then again I could just go by myself like I planned to in the first place. That would work just as well. Oh well! If I couldn't find her, I couldn't find her. In that case I'd be perfectly fine going on my own.

I finished my shift on the comms deck and left to go to the rec room to refuel before heading home. Sides wanted to have a game night or something, and since I had promised to spend more time with him I had reluctantly agreed to give up my art for the day to devote my time to him. But first I needed to top off before then, because when we gamed together we often lost track of time and our energon levels.

I was surprised when upon entering I saw the femme I had been thinking about sitting in a corner near the back of the room.

And as usual her face was buried in her sketchpad, coal stick furiously scratching across the surface of whatever page she was on. She didn't even look up at my approach, seeming oblivious to anything around her until I plopped down across from her and started talking.

"Where have you been?"

She nearly shot out of her chair with a squeal of surprise. "S-Sun-streaker?!"

I raised an optic ridge at her. "Yeah. Who else would it be?"

Her helm ducked down and she blushed again. "N-Nobot."

I wasn't put off. "So...? Where have you been lately?"

"I was... moving..."

My optic ridges shot up in surprise. "Moving huh?"

"Y-Yeah... I found a nice place near the base. For the last few days I had to have my things moved in... and well... a friend dragged me out shopping for garniture."

"Well... femmes like shopping right...?" It was something I could do without for the most part, unless it was for my supplies.

She looked embarrassed. "Some I guess... But not m-me. She had to drag me out kicking and screaming." She joked quietly.

Sounded like Sides when he wanted my help setting up a prank...

Small servos flipped her sketchbook closed and tucked it away in subspace. "I'm glad that it's finally finished being set up though. Now I have a day to relax before the big opening for the Art Gallery."

Oh that reminded me. "Actually, I was going to ask if you were going there with somebot?"

She blinked at me. "No why?"

"Well because I was going to suggest that we go together, since we're both going on the same night anyways."

"Oh..."

"If you want to go with me that is." Primus! I felt like I did the first time I asked a femme on a date! And this wasn't even the same thing!

Blue crept into her cheeks again. "Um, sure, I guess that's ok."

An unexpected tinge of happiness flowed through my spark, leaving me wondering why her accepting my offer caused it. I ignored it as best I could to focus on settling the details. "Alright. So where do I come to pick you up?"

"I live at the building on the corner of Octane Avenue and Speed Street, unit 19."

I logged her address in my logs. "Alright. I'll be around tomorrow night at 17:30 joors. Sound good?"

"Yes."

I stood up from the table. "Well I need to get going. I'll see you tomorrow."

She blushed again and ducked her helm. "Ok... Bye..."

Without another word I turned and started making my way out of the base and to my housing unit. If I was late for another brother bonding night Sides would never let it go.

Luckily I made it home in record time, before he made it back from patrol. It left me with plenty of time to shower and refuel since I had been so distracted talking to Athena that I had completely forgotten to do that.

When Sides finally walked in I was sitting on the couch holding a cube, with the TV already set up with his favorite game, and both controllers on the table. "Hey you actually came through for me Sunny!"

I grunted. "Yeah I do that sometimes Sides."

He snorted. "You come through all the time when I need you... just not always when I want to do something fun. You grumpy introverted artist."

"Call me that again and I'll lock myself in my studio and say screw game night."

"Deal. No more wise cracks about your favorite pastime." He plopped down after grabbing his own energon. "Alright so are you ready for me to kick your aft in COV?"

"I believe I'm the one that normally beats you... and I don't even play these games that often."

"Beginner's luck!"

I rolled my optics. "Yeah right."

Sides picked up a controller and started scrolling through the game modes. "I'm so happy that I let Jackie play COD on Earth! He and Percy duplicated it perfectly, but without the human Avatars, and weapons."

"What did you expect? Them to remake it where we play as humans? Or make it more realistic and sellable for other bots?"

Those two whack jobs had taken Call of Duty, and made it into a Cybertronian version of the game. We could scan ourselves and project our frames as our own avatars, down to every last detail. From there we could choose a variety of weapons that actually existed on our world, from protoblasters, to Cybertanium swords. Of course for the more powerful weapons you had to rank up. So far I only had basic weapons, while Sides had unlocked everything in the game.

"It's awesome either way." He handed me a controller.

"Sure it is." I muttered sarcastically.

We started up the game and waited for the loading screen to pass.

"So what are you doing tomorrow? I got patrol until second shift lets off, then after I was gonna go over to Storm's place for a bit."

"I'm going to the Grand Opening of that new Art Gallery."

"Ah... yeah I remember you talking about that. You goin' alone?"

If I told him about Athena he'd ask questions and make perverted comments. In that case he'd probably go looking for her just to see the femme who was good enough to go with me. Sides liked to make a big deal about almost anything that had to do with anything with a valve. "Yeah. No femme would wanna go to a boring Art Gallery."

Besides Athena...

He hummed quietly. "Nah. I'm sure that there's a femme out there who can be as boring as you."

I grunted as the game finally started up. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Sides."

He grinned cheekily. "You're welcome. Now let's trash the other team!"

Helm rot... here I come...

* * *

The next night came faster than I expected, and before I knew it I was standing outside Athena's door. Throughout the entire day I thought of how this whole thing would go, and whether I would scare her off permanently like I did most bots.

I really hoped that I didn't mess it up by being myself. Why I was so nervous I couldn't quite say. Normally the thought of taking a femme out didn't affect me nearly as much.

Just stop making it overly complicated! We were just going to the Gallery together because we were both going in the first place! She had no interest in me and I-!

My thoughts were cut off when the door opened revealing Athena standing there expectantly. She looked like she had polished her armor to a luminescent shine, but unlike most femmes she hadn't applied a ton of face paint or anything. In fact it appeared that polishing her armor was as far as she had gone in way of making herself look nice.

And she did look nice. She was normally very pretty despite being so petite, but now she was almost glowing. It highlighted the fact that she didn't need excessive measures to make herself look better.

"Hello Sunstreaker." She greeted me politely.

"Hey." I mumbled distractedly as I eyed her intently. Too intently in fact...

Her door wings twitched nervously. "A-Are you ready to go?"

I shook my helm to clear it. "Yeah. Let's get going."

With that I turned and waited for her to lock her place up, then together we made our way out of the building and onto the streets of New Iacon. We walked to the gallery side by side in complete silence.

When we got there it wasn't as busy as I was expecting it to be, only a line of roughly fifty bots were waiting to get into the large white marble building. The place looked somewhat like the White House on Earth, mixed with the entrance of one of the coliseums, only far larger of course.

Athena and I waited in line patiently for close to three breems, before we finally made it up to the admission stand.

"I can pay for you if you want." She offered.

"Nah. I got it, and you too. I did ask you to come with after all."

She blushed. "Thanks."

I handed over the credits to the keeper and he let us both in.

The inside of the Gallery was made up almost entirely of red marble, with cream colored slate walkways which were warm to the touch. Countless paintings lined the walls, protected by glass panels with display lights built in to highlight the works of art kept safely out of reach.

Athena was looking around in complete awe, door wings sitting up rimrod straight. "Wow..."

Wow was right... I could wander in this place endlessly if I really wanted to.

We stopped in the middle of a four way intersection. "So... where do you wanna go first?" I asked her.

She looked around at the signs hanging over the corridors. "How about we go look at the paintings of the mythological creatures first?"

"Sure."

With that said we both walked down the corridor containing the paintings in question.

"Oooh... Mecha Cerberus!" Athena gushed as we stopped in front of a picture of a giant three helmed turbo hound.

The being in question was portrayed as a smoky coal color, with gaping jaws boasting multiple sets of razor sharp denta, two reptile like tails, and claws large enough to gut somebot Megatron's size easily. In the painting he was depicted as a being that protected the entrance to the afterlife, similar to the story on Earth.

"I always imagined he would be a dark red not coal..."

"I think it fits either way, there are a lot of different contexts for mythological creatures." The piece was alright, but not overly great. But a lot of these artists were probably born after the restoration of Cybertron, meaning many of them probably weren't that old. All that being considered it was pretty good.

"True. I guess we all imagine things differently huh?"

I looked down at her enthralled expression. She was really interested, not pretending like some of the other femmes I had spent time with. "Yeah. An artist's perspective is normally pretty unique to them. We all see and depict things in our art differently."

"Mm hmm." She hummed quietly.

"Wanna go look at something else now?"

"Sure."

We took a few steps down the corridor, until we came to a stop in front of a painting depicting beings called Rust Serpents. These beings were supposedly serpentine creatures that used to terrorize the Sea of Rust in the days of the Quintessons.

Most were depicted as beings that could wrap themselves around an entire city, and were made of blazing copper colored armor, with jagged spines coming up over the spinal struts.

The one in this painting was more of a deep brown, with two sets of bright gold optics, and much more pronounced spikes, and a detailed crown with three horns bending back over the helm.

Whoever had painted this was feeling a great deal of anger and frustration, which was obvious from the short and angry strokes that made the serpent and the rust waves that came up like a tidal wave behind it. Seeing as how the serpent was obviously enraged itself, it added a bit of realism to it.

Athena made no comment so far on this one. "Don't like it?"

She blinked out of whatever daze she had fallen in. "It's not that. I was just analyzing the colors... I just don't know if the brown stands out enough... But it is nice with the gold of its' optics..."

"Well it's different than the normal bronze color that most people use when painting them."

"I know... It's just that sometimes I get the urge to paint things differently than anybot else. I want to use striking colors, not what would necessarily work best with the creature in question. But I guess for an ambush predator like a serpent, blending in is important."

"True. If it didn't blend in ambush attacks would be difficult to pull off. It's a matter of evolutionary design."

She nodded slowly. "Yes definitely. Each change in design happens for a reason."

We made a few more stops in front of several more paintings, discussing color combinations, and the level of realism depicted in the pictures, versus the artistic views the artists that painted them must have had.

As we were walking down near the end of the corridor Athena suddenly stopped dead in front of yet another painting. This one showed three beings called Cyber-Harpies.

The one in the middle was the tallest, and was decorated mainly in white, which faded to a lighter shade of blue near the edges of the wing-like arms, then to a darker shade. Even the crown was predominantly blue at the top with a white under-crown, and a long almost glowing plume of white feathers almost covered the backward facing knee joints that made up her legs. Her wing span was definitely the widest of the three, and her optics were covered by a dark blue visor.

Next was a femme that was a good deal shorter than the previous one, but where that femme was white and blue, this one was gold and brown, and her crown was shorter than her as well. Instead of a blue visor this one had a black one.

And last but not least was a femme that would be considered tiny compared to the other two. She was made up of black and white, spots covering her chassis and undersides of her wings, which were the thinnest of the three harpies. Her crown was also the shortest, and was made up of the same colors, as was her feather like tail. Her visor was also black.

"Wow... I love the contrast in colors for the largest harpy... That shade of ice blue goes well with the darker shade of blue, and offsets nicely with the white. She's very pretty."

While she rambled I found myself just staring at her as she carried on about the other two harpies in the painting. Her optics were bright, and a small but happy smile was present on her soft gold lips. Every so often her door wings would twitch with her enthusiasm, and she looked like she was positively glowing.

My spark stopped mid way between one pulse and the next... I wanted to paint her as she looked right now... So beautiful... I shook my helm to clear it when I realized what I was thinking. What the pit was wrong with me?!

The sound of fuel tanks rumbling drifted through my audios.

"Whoops! Forgot to refuel earlier..." She mumbled sheepishly.

"They have a restaurant in the lobby."

"Do you want to keep looking around while I go refuel?"

"I'll come with. It's hard to pay if I don't."

"You don't have to pay for me!" She protested.

"I invited you."

"But I was going to come regardless!"

I grunted irritably. "I need to refuel too."

She deflated a bit. "Oh... S-Sorry..."

Frag! Why did I feel bad for being rude to her? What was this femme doing to me? "Look let's just go. Afterwards we can spend some more time going through the exhibits."

"Ok."

Both of us made our way back down through the lobby, through an arch off to the right side, where a nice sit down restaurant. I led Athena over to a corner table and ordered a spiced energon for both of us.

Neither of us spoke while we waited for the waiter to come back with out cubes. I was too busy trying to sort out the reason that I was acting so out of character. Sure, Athena was a different kind of femme but I hardly knew her.

From what I could tell she was sweet, timid, shy, intelligent, talented. The fact was that I _**could talk**_ to her, and she would _**understand**_ was different than anything any femme had ever been able to offer me _ **.**_ She could offer intelligent input on matters that most femmes would short a circuit over.

And while she wasn't so endowed that mechs ran the risk of being knocked into stasis if she turned too fast, she was very nice to look at. She didn't need to have a massive chassis, or an aft that stuck out twice as far as her shoulders.

She was extremely pretty without all those things.

And it wasn't like she didn't have any endowments whatsoever, she did have a nice and shapely frame. It was just that she was petite, small and lithe, with a good sized chassis for her size but not overly so. Her aft was nice and sculpted, but wasn't going to make a mech rebound off of her from the volume of it.

That was when I realized that I had been subconsciusly checking her out... And I didn't dislike what I saw. In fact I really did like it.

Primus... what was going on with me?

Luckily the waiter returned withour energon at that moment, making me sigh internally when I was able to focus on something else. Or I would have been relieved if the tall, bulky, dark green Iaconian mech hadn't lingered for some reason.

I stared at him while he ignored me, his bright blue optics studiously focusing on Athena's oblivious form. She had no idea that the mech was staring at her like some piece of fine fraggable metal.

I snarled lowly at him, prompting his optics to snap over to meet mine. "Don't you have something to do?" Stop staring at her you fragger!

The fragger seemed to realize that I would knock some sense into him, and wisely chose to go back to whatever he was doing.

"Sunstreaker?"

I grunted, before turning back to the small praxian femme across from me. "Yeah?"

She shifted nervously. "You seem upset..."

Was it that obvious? "Nah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Y-You were glaring death at the waiter for some reason."

Because he was staring at you like you were on the menu for tonight... I didn't say that to her, when I really should have. "I'm fine Athena. Don't worry about it."

She bit her lower lip before nodding. "If you're sure..."

"I am. Now drink your energon."

No more arguments came for the rest of our time out.

* * *

Later that night I found myself standing outside of Athena's apartment after walking her home. Normally I wouldn't have bothered, but for some reason I wanted to make sure she got back safe. Even though the Decepticons were gone, there were still dangers present on Cybertron.

She turned towards me with a shy smile just short of the door to her place. "Thanks for taking me out Sunstreaker. It was very nice."

"Yeah it was. Normally when I take a femme out she annoys me half to death."

A soft tinkering laugh escaped from her. "Well... I guess that's not an issue since I don't talk much." She joked.

"Unless it's about art." I pointed out.

"Yeah..."

We fell into an awkward silence after that. I really should have just walked away, but for some reason I just stood there waiting for something. Something that I really couldn't figure out. But when those bright blue optics lifted to meet mine again, I realized with a start that I expected her to kiss me.

What the frag?! I wanted her to kiss me?! Did I... like her...?! No way!

A sudden caress on my cheek plate startled me enough that my optics shot down to the set of soft gold lips pressed against it. Before I could react she pulled back and walked in reverse to her door, with a darker blush on her cheeks.

"I'll see you later Sunstreaker."

And in a blur of movement she had disappeared behind the door to her apartment.

Leaving me standing there, cupping my cheek, and shaking with a sudden realization.

I had feelings for the little femme... I felt like a mechling with his first primary school crush!

My spark was practically singing in my chassis...

For almost two breems I stood there staring at her door, until I finally snapped out of it and started on my way back home. My processor was racing with the events that had just transpired, and the realizations I had come to.

Because I had never legitimately liked a femme for who she was. It was always about what they looked like, and what they could offer in way of carnal pleasure.

Yet I had fallen for the little femme who stuttered when she spoke, and apologized profusely. A femme that could converse with me about the things that I liked...

Something that I had never encountered before.

It took me twice as long to get back home as it should have, and Sides was in when I got there.

He looked away from the TV screen to greet me, only to stop and stare at me for some reason. "Umm Sunny? Why do you look like you're over charged?"

That snapped me out of it! Sides thought I was going to the Gallery alone! Had to think of something fast! "The Gallery was better than I was expecting is all. They had a lot of nice works there, and a built in restaurant. It was pretty awesome."

Sides stared at me oddly. "Okkk... For a moment there I thought you had just gotten laid."

I scowled at him. "No Sides. I didn't get laid."

He laughed. "I figured. Come on and sit down! I just got the newest version of COV!"

Without a word I plopped down beside him and grabbed a controller.

Maybe killing some avatars would help me clear my helm?

Afterwards I had to figure out what to do with Athena...

Primus I felt like such a slagging idiot!

* * *

R&R!


	5. Chapter 5: Being Oblivious Never Lasts

I warned you guys that this was fast paced. Poor Sunny doesn't know what to make of the sudden realization that he likes Athena! Glad you guys are liking her because she's one of my absolute favorite OC's! Don't worry there will be twists, angst, pain , and all that stuff needed to make up for how fast their relationship is progressing. There will be trouble in paradise! Oh and Sides is going to get with her too later! Just not now otherwise the poor thing would be completely overwhelmed. I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

In the solar cycles that had passed since Sunstreaker and I had gone to the gallery, I had been feeling strange whenever I saw him. My spark would race, my frame would heat up, and I would stammer far worse than I normally did any other time.

I didn't know what to make of the feelings of anxiousness and nervousness that overwhelmed me whenever he stopped to talk to me in the halls, or refueled with me during our breaks. He seemed to be around a lot more than he used to.

The feelings he invoked in me weren't bad ones, which was what I expected when dealing with most mechs. In fact he made me want to loosen up and open up more, and that confused me.

He made me laugh.

He didn't scare me.

He didn't look down on me like everybot else did.

I didn't have to hide from him. I didn't even feel the inclination to.

It was so strange.

Why couldn't I figure out why I felt this way? Normally I would ask Cee or one of my creators, but for some reason I really didn't want to. Cee would just badger me with questions, and so would danni. But if I asked her it might get back to Opi, and he was overly protective about certain things.

He might try to sit me down and pull me some sort of discussion on the relations between mechs and femmes, which I was already more versed in than I would like to be. So no...

Not even work could distract me from the thoughts that plagued me.

I knew, because throughout my entire med bay shift Uncle Ratchet kept getting after me for not paying attention. It made me feel like the early days after I had come to Iacon, when I had opted to become a medic over being a saboteur or a frontliner. Back then he was always waving his wrench around wildly...

He was still pretty bad about it when bots came into the med bay with stupid injuries, but for the most part he didn't hit me anymore.

Well not normally... but my helm was throbbing from getting whacked earlier.

I whimpered as I gently touched the dented metal with my free servo, the other was cradling a stack of medical logs against my chassis. I was supposed to deliver them to Opi's office before I did anything else.

Slag... it really stung...

I was so busy concentrating on the pain that I didn't notice anybot standing in my path. For that reason, I got quite a surprise when I ran smack into a large frame and was sent crashing to the floor.

It wasn't Sunstreaker that I had run into either. If it had been him I wouldn't have felt a twinge of dread in my spark.

Instead a tall, burly, orange mech was peering down at me with narrow optics.

Why did I have to run into Scourge now? This mech and his friends made my life a living pit whenever they got the chance!

"Goin' somewhere half bit?" He growled down at me with his deep rumbling timbre voice, at the same time that he shifted his ped and kicked one of the data pads.

Scrap! I rushed to start picking them up, when he kicked a couple of them out of my reach.

"I asked you a question half bit. It's only polite to answer it."

My door wings hitched with apprehension... Why did this always have to happen? "I-I was g-going to drop t-those data p-pads off..." I stammered even worse than usual. Big mechs frightened me when they looked at me like he did.

When they loomed over me with dark optics, like they wanted to hurt me.

I was a coward.

I was always afraid.

I could never find it in myself to stand up to any of them.

Instead I let them get away with doing whatever they wanted. I didn't want to get anybot I cared about involved, mostly because I didn't want to cause them trouble. And also because I was too ashamed to admit that I was an Autobot who was bullied by other Autobots. It was the very epitome of being pathetic.

"Oh right... you're the resident errand bot." He laughed condescendingly.

I felt my cheeks heat up with humiliation, even though there was nobot there to see it. In an astrosecond I had hurriedly plucked up the data pads and took off down the hallway with my helm ducked down in mortification.

And of course I had to run smack into another broad chassis.

With a squeak I went tumbling to the floor yet again, data pads being flung all over the floor.

And of course it had to be Sunstreaker staring down at me with an optic ridge raised.

"N-Not again..." I moaned pitifully.

"Having issues Athena?"

"Yes. Yes I am..."

He bent down to help me gather the data pads up. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." At least nothing that I wanted to trouble anybot else with. Especially him. Luckily he said nothing until we had the data pads all gathered up again. Afterwards we both stood awkwardly, well I did.

Sunstreaker was just staring at me while I stood there.

"I-I need to go drop these off..." With that I tried skirting passed him, but he stepped into my path again. "Sunstreaker... please move..."

"I'll walk with you."

What?! Did he just offer to walk with me? Why? "Don't you have things you need to do?"

"No. I'm finished with my shift for the day."

"Oh..." Well maybe having him with me would discourage Scourge from hassling me again? Then again I didn't want to cause him any trouble either. But for some odd reason I wanted him to come with me anyways. Why was that?

"You comin' or not? Or did you just want to stand there all day?" He prompted me impatiently.

When he turned and walked away I hurried to walk beside him, data pads clutched to my chassis, and door wings sitting stiffly on my back. If anybot came up behind me I would notice it now, but it was a double edged sword having them so stiff. One little tug would send intense agony through me entire frame. I knew that well enough.

Sunstreaker kept glancing at me as we made our way towards Opi's office. "You sure something's not wrong?"

"I'm fine."

We made it to my destination before he could comment again.

"Wait here while I drop these off?" I questioned.

"Yeah I'll be here."

I turned and made my way inside, optics landing on Opi sitting at his desk reading over data pads. His helm popped up, optics brightening when I stopped in front of said desk. "Sweetling."

I placed the data pads on his desk. "Hi Opi. Uncle Ratchet asked me to bring these medical logs to you."

"Yes he commed me earlier to tell me you would be coming by. Thank you."

My wings twitched nervously. "Do you need anything else?"

"No. I believe that is all I require at present." His optics locked on my twitching door wings intently.

Our creator bond opened wide, allowing me to feel him prodding at me in concern. **(Is something wrong sweetling?)**

Scrap! Why was I always so transparent! **(I'm fine Opi. Today has just been really stressful.)**

 **(Do you wish to talk about it?)**

 **(No. Not right now.)**

 **(If you need me you do know where to find me. Come find me if you do decide that you wish to talk.)**

 **(Ok. I'll see you later Opi.)** With that I turned to leave.

 **(Sweetling?)**

I turned back towards him expectantly. **(Yes Opi?)**

He smiled at me tenderly. **(I love you.)**

My spark pulsed with happiness, which chased away the anxiety I felt momentarily. **(I love you too.)** With that I finally made my way out the door and over to where Sunstreaker was leaning against the wall.

"Finished?"

"Yes. Thank you for waiting."

"No problem. Where to now?"

I shifted, nervous to be around him when I was feeling so strangely about him. "Well... I-I'm off for the rest of the day so... I, um, was planning to go home I guess."

"How about a detour first?"

"A detour? Where?"

He turned and started down the hall towards the main entry way. "Just come with me."

Once again I was rushing to keep up with his longer strides.

"You up for a drive?" He asked once we made it outside.

"Sure."

We transformed down into our alt modes and pulled onto the freeway. It felt nice to feel myself flying down the road with my hover wheels activated. Walking was nice, but sometimes driving was even better.

And Sunstreaker had a very sleek alt mode, low to the ground and shapely. It wasn't like any vehicle I'd seen on Cybertron.

Mine was plain in comparison, just a sleek and small coupe built for speed. I remember when Cee asked me why I was a two door vehicle when I had four door wings, but they actually folded up and became part of my back side paneling.

It took us a few breems to get to where he was taking me, a crystal garden near the lower east end of New Iacon.

Strangely enough it was a place that I could see him going to when he was stressed. The different colored crystals sculpted into various cyber animals, and lounging ganiture like benches, and even oil fountains, lined the entire area. Many shining in multiple different colors all at once.

We ended up walking through the mostly empty scenery in silence, until we ended up sitting on a bench near a brightly colored purple oil fountain.

I stared at the pretty fountain in front of us quietly. Why did Sunstreaker bring me here? Surely he had better things to do than spend so much of his time with me?

For some reason thinking that made my spark hurt, but I had no idea why. It must be true though, I mean he was talented and good looking. Surely there were dozens of femmes who would be willing to spend their every waking moment with him. Yet here he was spending time with me...

Why did sitting here next to him have to make my spark flutter so strongly?

Shifting beside me caught my attention, drawing my optics to the bright gold mech who was staring at me from the corner of his optic. "So... what have you been working on lately?"

I blinked at him. "Working on?"

"Artwork... Have you been painting or drawing anything lately?"

A wave of heat raced across my cheeks when he mentioned my artwork. I was such an idiot for not realizing that he was talking about that! "Oh... um, y-yeah... some..."

"Anything good?"

The merfemme painting popped up in my helm, but I was way too shy to bring it up. "N-Not really..."

He raised an optic ridge at me. "Really? Nothing?"

I tried to look convincing, but my door wings twitched and gave me away.

A smug smirk tugged at his lips. "You're not a very good liar."

Scrap!

"So what have you been working on?" He pressed.

"Ummmm..."

He raised an optic ridge at me again. "Yes? Go on..."

I chewed on my lip nervously. "Uhhh..."

"Come on femme out with it already! It's not that hard to talk about!"

My door wings jerked up with my surprise. Wow... he was very impatient... "Well... I... after we went to the gallery... I remembered something I wanted to paint as a youngling..."

"And that is?"

Was I really sitting here, about to discuss art with somebot that I hadn't known for an excessive amount of time? Oh scrap... I was!

"Femme you've been sitting there staring at me for half a breem now. Are you going to answer the question?" Sunstreaker grumbled.

"W-Was... I didn't..." I rambled incessantly, like I was prone to doing. Primus fraggit! "It'samerfemme!"

He blinked at me weirdly. "What? I didn't understand that."

I vented heavily... Somebot please save me from self combustion. "I'm painting a merfemme."

He looked surprised. "Really? Why?"

My helm dropped down and I stared at the fountain in front of us to distract myself from the way he was staring at me. How did I explain that my inspiration came from reading the story Returned by the Tides? I used to want to be that merfemme, just so that I could escape from everything that hurt me...

"Do you... remember the story Returned by the Tides?" I asked quietly.

"That sparkling tale? Yeah I remember."

"Well when I was little that was one of my favorite stories, mainly due to the fact the main character Orcala is so carefree. She's always happy being alone in her world, without anybot around to hurt her."

"Wasn't she also really lonely too?"

"Yes I guess so. But she found happiness when she found a mech who she truly loved, and who loved her in return despite their differences. That's the reason that I love that story, because it's so hopeful. It gives me hope that even somebot like me can find love one day."

Before Sunstreaker could comment a large cobalt blue metroplexian mech with dark green optics, holding a bouquet of crystal flowers walked up to where we were sitting. "Excuse me femme, I was just walking by and saw you sitting here and thought that you might like a bouquet of crystal flowers."

Wha-What?! Well it would be considered rude not to take them... So I reached out and pulled them in against my chassis. "T-Thank you."

Sunstreaker seemed to be scowling up at the mech for some reason.

But he seemed not to care. "So what are you doing with that hazard sign of a mech in such a beautiful place? Not that its' beauty outshines yours of course."

 **BAM!** A sudden flash of gold, followed by a swift punch to the mech's face plate had him crashing to the ground in the space of an astrosecond.

I leapt to my peds with a squeak of surprise as Sunstreaker went after him and proceeded to beat the scrap out of him! Oh Primus! What was going on now?!

"Back off! She's not yours, she's mine!"

HIS?! WAS HE MEANING THAT I WAS HIS?!

He delivered one last withering blow to the downed mechs side, then came back over to stand in front of me. His mouth was moving, but for the life of me I couldn't hear what he was saying over the sudden defeaning silence in my helm.

Surely he meant somebot else was his! Why would anybot want me?!

"Athena?"

I mean I was short, not overly endowed, not pretty...

"Athena?"

My frame started quivering and my door wings sagged. No he was just messing with me!

"Athena!"

The sudden yell had me scrambling backwards, directly over the edge of the fountain which made had me tripping backwards into it.

Sunstreaker quickly grabbed a hold of my arm, but he somehow got caught on the edge of the fountain and fell in with me. Both of us landing with a loud _**SPLASH!**_

I spluttered after coming up to the surface, coughing and hacking the oil out of my vents. The bouquet of crystal flowers was floating away on the surface of the oil.

Sunstreaker came up beside me, oil dripping off of his face. He seemed more concerned with the oil streaming down his armor than anything else. Until his optics strayed from that and drifted up my face.

He looked like he was sulking!

I couldn't fight down the myriad of giggles that escaped me no matter how hard I tried.

They were cut off when he suddenly pushed me to lay flat on my back, door wings spread out beneath me, and oil splashing over my frame as he somehow ended up kneeling between my legs.

I froze in surprise, unable to move as he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.

And they were so warm...

So surprisingly soft...

The kiss itself was so vigorous, but not as brutal as some. Everything about this mech was just intense, from his optics, to the way he moved, and even his very aura.

I was shocked to realize that I was pressing back instead of pushing him away.

Did I like him?! I barely knew him!

Of course as soon as I thought about that fact I shoved at his chassis. "S-Sunstreaker? Wha-What are you doing?!"

He raised an optic ridge at me in question. "I think it should be pretty obvious what we just did there."

I stammered incomprehensibly for a klik or so before my optics slammed shut and I fell back into the fountain in a dead faint.

Oh Primus...

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

How is it that I ended up carrying an unconscious femme all the way from the Crystal Gardens, up to her apartment in the Upper East end of New Iacon? Better yet why did she pass out on me in the first place? I kiss her and she passes out. No femme had ever done that to me before.

I entered her apartment building and made my way up to her third floor unit, coming to a stop in front of her door. It occurred to me that I didn't have her entry code, so I had no way to get in...

Well short of hacking the lock...

Thanks for the lessons in hacking Jazz...

I sat her down near my peds and linked my sync cable to the door console, but it took me a few kliks to get through the door defenses and hack in. Once I did that it was a simple matter of overriding the lock sequence.

Pulling back from the console, I tucked my sync cable back in place and picked Athena up from the floor before carrying her into her apartment. I carried her into the living room and laid her down on the couch, looking around the spacious room in slight awe.

She had a really nice place...

Sides and I had an actual housing unit, but it wasn't quite as high end even if it was bigger. We had cream colored slate flooring and neutral colored walls, where she had marble on top of more marble.

I turned my helm towards the fuel prep area when a blur of blue and yellow flung itself at my face. "WHAT THE FRAG!?"

Whatever it was scurried out of the way when I tried to swat at it, crawling up around my shoulders and down my back, nearly making me trip over the living room table when I tried to spin around so that my optics could lock on it.

The commotion must have woke Athena at some point, because mid-spin I saw her sitting up and rubbing her helm while she watched me.

I managed to grab a hold of whatever it was and bring it to my face level.

Athena's little stream glider Sparky... At least he didn't shock me again.

"Sparky no! Get down!" She held her servos out for him and I handed him to her so that she could cradle him against her chassis. Once she had him there her servos busied themselves with rubbing him between his little audios. "You're being a naughty little mech! What have I told you about jumping on bot's faces?"

Was this really the same femme that I kissed a groon ago?

The same femme that I had somehow developed feelings for before I even realized what was happening?

A femme who was smart, talented, shy, and beautiful?

And who talked to her stream glider like it could understand her...?

What did I get myself into? And why didn't I just walk away and not look back?

I had tried after realizing that I felt something for her, but for some reason I couldn't stay away. It was like some sort of magnetic force kept drawing me back to her or something. Why keep fighting it if I ended up getting frustrated with myself for coming back to her anyways? Might as well be around her because I wanted to and I enjoyed it.

But I couldn't tell Sides... He'd never let me live it down!

Another problem was that Athena didn't seem to realize why I had kissed her. She appeared to be completely shocked at first, and now she seemed like she wasn't acknowledging it.

She just sat there petting Sparky, while studiously ignoring me.

For a few kliks, then her optics locked on my face, and those elegant door wings hitched with nervousness. "Y-You... k-kissed m-me..."

"I did."

She swallowed harshly. "Why?"

Did she really not know? Seriously? I gestured at the couch. "Can I sit?"

"Yes."

With that I plopped down beside her and kicked my peds up on the table. "Do you have any experience with mechs Athena?" Because it honestly didn't seem like it...

She looked down quickly. "Some... B-But I've n-never... had an actual r-relationship with one."

"I'm not surprised."

A faint dusting of blue stained her cheeks again. "Most don't... l-ike me much..."

I found myself wondering why a mech wouldn't like her, but then I figured that most bots didn't care about a bot's personality as much as their looks. Athena wasn't remotely unattractive, but her timidity made it so that she didn't stand out as much.

Truth be told if I hadn't run into her that first time I probably never would have noticed her. I was glad I had though. Primus I sounded so mushy! "I don't know why they wouldn't."

Instead of seeing it as a compliment she seemed to fold in more on herself. "I'm just... nothing special... I'm not pretty or smart. Why would a mech like me?"

Somebot had self esteem issues.

She leaned back after putting Sparky on the floor, and poked at her supple chassis. "I have a small chassis, my aft isn't enormous, and my door wings are too big." With each word she spoke the slump to her frame became even more noticable.

My optics drifted over the parts of her that she talked down, well that I could see. Her chassis wasn't huge, but it was shapely and defined enough that it looked good on her frame. Door wings? Well what the frag did I really know about what made them attractive? They were smooth and shaped a little differently than Prowl or Smokescreen's, but they were't so large that they were disproportionate to the rest of her. And the second smaller set at her hips made her look exotic. I'd never seen a praxian with two sets of door wings before.

As for the last bit... I couldn't see it now but I'd stared at it plenty before, and was in no way displeased with her firm and rounded aft. Some femmes put so much into that particular asset that you couldn't tell where their shoulders ended and their aft started. Athena's had a supple curve to it that made it stand out, and look wonderful when she walked.

I could see myself being pressed against it often...

Of course as soon as I thought about that my processor was running wild with ideas, and the interface protocols I thought had died out sprang back up with a vengence. I vented hard to prevent myself from doing something I'd regret.

Like jumping her on the couch.

What was I supposed to say to her though?

"Some mechs just don't have good taste." Fell from my mouth before I could think better of it.

Her helm shot up so fast she nearly hit me with it. "What?!"

Scrap! Why did I have to say that?!

She just stared up at me with a gaping mouth...

And for the second time today I just reacted impulsively by yanking her flush against my frame, and dipping my helm to slam my lips against her again. She squeaked against my lips, going completely stiff as her servos shot up to my shoulders like she couldn't decide whether to let me be or push me away.

Her lips were so soft, and they didn't have the strange taste that lip paint normally had, meaning she wasn't wearing any. As I kissed her more intensely she finally started moving her lips against mine, timidly yielding to me when I applied more force.

Something about the way she molded to me perfectly was enthralling. Most femmes just fit wrong, were all over the place, or tried to come in too strong for my liking. I liked to dominate, to be in control over my partner.

Athena fueled my most powerful urges.

I couldn't hold back my growl of pleasure, servos tilting her helm and holding her to me as I deepened the kiss. Glossa slipping passed my lips to probe at hers.

The only warning I had that I had gone too far, was a soft squeak before she had somehow gotten free of my hold. Leaving me to stare at her as she scrambled to the opposite end of the couch. "What? What's wrong?"

She clasped her servos over her spark chamber shakily. "I-I can't... I'm not... ready..."

"Ready for what?"

Her optics drifted down to my sodpiece.

Which I hadn't noticed was puffed up from my spike coming free of its restraints. I was so engrossed in her that I never even realized my frame was actually preparing for interface!

The things this femme was doing to me!

"I didn't realize..."

"I-It's ok... Just please don't push me anymore..."

"Alright. I won't." Obviously restraint was something I'd have to learn when dealing with her.

"Why do y-ou, keep k-kissing me?"

I sighed. "Because I feel like it."

"Why?"

"Because I can actually talk to you about things that interest me Athena. You're not a normal run of the mill ditzy femme who's only good as a berth warmer."

She gaped at me.

"For some reason I like you. I can't say why and I tried not to, but I can't. You're an artist, you're smart, and you're beautiful without needing fake upgrades on your frame."

Those bright crystal blue, almost white optics widened to saucers. "M-Me? Beautiful?"

"Yes you."

"But you barely know me!"

"I'd like to get to know you." Wow that sounded so cliche... Did I take all my pick-up-lines from Sides? Seriously?

"I... what does that mean...?"

How blunt did I have to be? Apparently very blunt. "It means I want to spend more time with you."

She blushed deeply. "Like... go on a d-date?"

"Technincally we already did." Not that I had admitted it until just now.

"When?"

"The opening of the Gallery..."

Her optics got wide all over again. "Th-that was a date?"

"Yeah it was."

"And you don't want to go out on another one?"

I slapped myself in the face. "I only meant that we can get to know each other better if we're going out on dates with each other exclusively."

A look of realization flashed across her features. "Like... dating?"

"Yes. That's what I meant."

"You want... to date me...? You could have any femme you wanted."

I raised an optic ridge at her, even though I knew that was true. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"W-Well... I m-mean that... it's j-ust that... you're just... you... A-And I-I'm me..."

"You're you and I'm me? What does that mean?"

"Y-You're so... handsome..."

I almost purred in pleasure. Oh yes... I was well aware of that.

"And I'm... plain."

Just like that I felt my good mood slipping away. What was with this femme and not having any self esteem? If she wasn't attractive I wouldn't have said that she was. "No you're not. Look if you weren't beautiful I wouldn't have said it. I don't lie to anybot."

Those sleek door wings twitched shyly. "R-Really?"

"Really. Now do we have to make this more complicated than it has to be? Will you be my femme or not?"

Our optics stayed locked, and after a klik or so she nodded.

"Ok..."

Well that was a start...

The start of what was hopefully not just another pointless relationship.

Only time would tell if I was right about her.

* * *

R&R!


	6. Chapter 6: What It Means To Be Together

So now they're officially dating, but Athena is going to take a few chapters to fully understand what all that entails. She's not innocent, but she's never actually dated before. So Sunny will literally have to teach her how to do everything for the most part but she will surprise him once or twice. Poor mech... Anyways... I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! I decided to update early! YAY!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

What all did dating entail?

I kept asking myself that same question in the few orns since Sunstreaker had suggested we see each other exclusively.

But no matter how much I contemplated it I had no answer.

Things didn't seem all that different between us really. We saw each other throughout the day during breaks or in the hall, sometimes we refueled together, or went to the cafe together. But those were all things we had done on a somewhat normal basis before getting together.

He didn't act any different towards me really... Well not overly so.

He did seem to walk a little closer to me when we went somewhere, and sometimes he walked me home after we got off of work.

But other than that nothing more had happened between us... Was that because dating couples only did these things? If that were the case why did he kiss me not once, but twice that day?

And why hadn't he done it since?

A better question was why didn't I run screaming from him when it happened like I did with everybot else?

I was hopelessly lost and confused...

Why did he want my comm frequency?

Why did he comm me to check in on me throughout the day? If I needed something I would comm him... But sometimes it was nice to just talk to him I guess.

Why was dating so confusing, but also so... I don't know... comforting? Was that a good way to describe it? I wasn't really sure. But what I did know was that I felt happy when he talked to me, which I didn't understand.

Nobot had ever really spoken to me civilly, other than Cee and her sisters, my adopted creators, Uncle Ratchet, and the other superior officers. Bots that I had to converse with on a daily basis, who had to be polite for whatever reason.

Often times I wondered whether everybot but Cee and my family unit hated me as much as my real family unit used to. But those thoughts just hurt too much to think about, so I just let it go. I didn't think about them anymore than I had to. They didn't have any place in my thoughts right now.

I slumped against my couch tiredly. "At least today is my off day so Uncle Ratchet doesn't have to wrench me for being distracted."

That was a good thing right? At least my helm wouldn't suffer from blunt force trauma caused by my own wandering thoughts. What was I supposed to do with my day though? Sparky was recharging in his cage, so I had nobot to keep me company at the moment.

Maybe I could play some COV? That might be fun since I had nothing better to do.

With a shrug I grabbed my controller and turned my gaming system on, loading up the most recent version of COV. It only took a klik or so for it to finish loading, showing my customized avatar in the center of the screen near the game options. Most bots just scanned themselves and used it as their avatar, I opted to use the build-a-bot function to make my own.

My avatar was everything I wished I was, tall, curvaceous, endowed, and not plainly colored. I kept a praxian frame type only with one set of wings not two, but made her a nice shade of royal purple to offset the soft gold that I actually kept from my own appearance.

A lot of mechs must have assumed that I had scanned myself and used my own appearnace for the game, becaus they often hit on me. I didn't really want to disappoint them by telling them that I was in no way as appealing as my avatar. Maybe that would have made them stop if I had told them I was nothing like her?

Er... maybe I should just focus on the game? Yeah that was probably a good idea.

I loaded up a game of Search and Destroy after tweaking my weapon classes a bit.

As the game loaded up I picked my high impact sniper rifle class, with a secondary Ion cannon, outfitted with smoke grenades.

It started up and the first thing I did was find a spot with a good vantage point to snipe from, which happened to be the top of a fallen skyscraper. Once there I hunkered down and surveyed the map for my first target...

"Take down the enemy team then go for the bomb." I muttered to myself as I caught sight of a lanky gray mech racing across the screen. In a flash I had my target retinal locked on his helm and pulled the trigger. Dropping him cleanly with just one shot.

Maybe the fact that I was actually a marksman made it unfair for me to play this game?

I contemplated that while simultaneously dropping two more of the enemy team. Now there were only three left, but I needed to move before somebot found me.

I threw myself over the edge of my perch and raced towards the overhang of a nearby building. Now that I was paying attention I realized that I was the only one left on my team!

"Slag..." I cursed quietly, crouching down and peering around a corner near one of the bomb drop off sites.

Another avatar ran across my screen, allowing me to swiftly take him out.

Unsurprisingly he dropped the bomb, meaning that anybot that was left on the opposite team had to come directly in my line of sight to get it. And come the next one did, only to be dropped just short of picking it up.

Now it was just one enemy and I left...

I waited and waited, but he never came for the bomb.

Meaning he was looking to take me out first...

No sooner had I thought that the sounds of peds racing up behind me became audible.

I turned and rolled out of the way as the blazing red mech swung a cybertanium wrist blade at me, pulling my ion cannon up and quickly firing at him three times in succession. Each shot was only a glancing blow, and he just came at me again.

Forcing me to duck out of the way and pelt him with a smoke bomb to obscure me from his vision, and from there I used my heat vision to pinpoint where he was so that I could get up behind him and shove my combat knife into his spinal struts.

"WE WIN! WOOOOOOO!" I cried joyously.

The game ended and we were all tossed back into the lobby.

The first thing I heard was the mech I had killed complaining. "What the frag was that? You smoke bombed me!'"

I didn't say anything.

"Hello? Purple femme! Yo! You smoke bombed me and stabbed me in the back strut! What the pit?!"

"You were coming at me with dual wrist swords! What did you expect? I had a sniper rifle equipped, which I am happy to shove up your aft and fire into your tail pipe!" I quipped back. When I was gaming I tended to be somewhat snarky and sarcastic since I didn't have the courage to do it in real life.

"Ooooh somebot's bein' snarky! Hey Princess wanna give me your comm frequency?"

Ok now it was going too far. "No. Just no."

"Aww why not?"

"Because I have a..." I paused just short of mentioning my... mechfriend... Oh slag... I did have a mechfriend!

"You have a what?"

"A mechfriend."

"Riiiight! That's why it took you so long to answer! Come on be straight with me Princess!"

My door wings hitched with aggravation. "I do have one."

"Ok whatever you say. So does that mean I can't get your frequency?"

Was he serious right now?! "Yes that means you can't have my comm frequency! Now shut up!"

"I can sit here and comment on how none of that was nice, but I won't. Wanna join a party and play together?"

Before I could comment my comm went off and nearly sent me leaping off my couch with a squeal of surprise. **:H-Hello?:**

 **:I'm outside your apartment and I don't feel like breaking in again.:**

 **:Sunstreaker? Wait what? When did you break into my housing unit?:**

 **:When you passed out at the crystal garden. I had to carry you back home.:**

 **:Oh... that... Yes now I remember. Wait how did you hack my lock? It was supposed to be state of the art.:**

 **:Well I had some lessons in door hacking from a friend. That and the lock isn't that good.:**

Scrap! Now I had something else that I needed to fix.

 **:Are you gonna open the door or not?:**

 **:Coming.:**

With that I bid goodbye to the mystery game mech before shutting the console off and getting up to unlock my door. Revealing Sunstreaker standing there expectantly.

"What were you doing that you took so long to answer the door?"

"Er... I was watching TV."

"Oh. Well does that mean you aren't busy right now?"

"Umm no I'm not."

He stepped aside and gestued into the hallway. "I just got off shift and was wondering if you wanted go out for a bit?"

"Where to?"

"I was going to go down to the art store and pick up some things since I'm running low. Afterwards I was thinking that we could go to the cafe and refuel?"

"Oh ok. I need to get some things from the market too... I-If that's ok?" I asked hesitantly.

"Sure. Come on then." He waited for me to lock my apartment up, and together we made our way out onto the streets of New Iacon. "So what do you need to pick up?"

I went over the list I had made earlier today. "Umm some energon for Sparky. My energon stores are low so I need to pick up some for myself, and I wanted to get some ingredients to make a mercury based energon cake."

His optic ridges shot up. "You make energon goodies?"

"Yes. Sometimes they don't always turn out well, but other times they're good. I haven't tried a mercury based energon cake yet, so I wanted to make it."

We made it to Canvas Paradise first, and Sunstreaker held the door open for me. Which was odd, but I walked in without commenting on it.

Lithium looked up from stocking shelves when we entered. "Oh hello Athena! How are you?"

I looked down at the floor as her optics strayed to Sunstreaker who was standing silently behind me. "I-I'm good..."

"Hello Sunstreaker."

He grunted at her in way of greeting.

Please don't let her mention us coming here together to anybot! Please don't let her mention us coming here together to anybot! If Danni or Opi found out... no if Cee or Flareup did, I was so going to be scrapped for not saying something right after we started dating! Then they'd all sit me down and try giving me the talk about how he should treat me and none of it would be remotely realistic! Then Cee would start spying on us wherever we went!

"You two came here together?" She asked politely.

Sunstreaker answered before I could. "Yeah. What of it?"

"I meant no disrespect, but you two always come in here alone."

"Not today." He grumbled moodily.

Lithium chose not to comment on anythng that had to do with us coming here together again. "Well just so that you two know I'm having a sale on canvases and paint."

In an astrosecond I was being dragged towards the back of the store by a suddenly very eager mech. "Umm... you don't have to drag me..."

He didn't seem to notice I had said anything, instead he dragged me all the way back to where the canvases and paint were located. Once we were there he looked over what was on display animatedly.

It was like he didn't even realize I was here anymore... Was that normal?

A slight pressure around my hips had me looking down at where he had wrapped his arm around my waist, and before I could comment he pulled me in flush against his side.

Umm... was this normal? "S-Sunstreaker? Wh-what are you doing?"

"I feel like it."

"Umm... I-I didn't ask why, but what you're doing?"

He finally looked down at me oddly. "Um, I'm holding you?"

"Why?"

"Because I feel like it..."

"Is it... normal...?"

A sigh escaped from him. "It's perfectly normal femme, couples do it all the time."

Oh... it was a normal couple thing... "So it's a good thing?" I asked just to make sure.

"Yes."

So it was a good thing that I liked the warmth emanating from him? "You're very warm..."

"Well I am much bigger than you, which means my engines put off a lot more heat than yours."

"So... do I have to do something back?"

"No. You don't have to do anything at all." He trailed off as his optics drifted back to the shelves with interest.

My door wings twitched in thought. So... I just had to stand here and let him hold me? That seemed easy enough.

"So do you need to get anything?"

"No, I stopped in a few solar cycles ago to get everything I needed." With a shrug he grabbed what he wanted, well what he could since he had an arm wrapped around me, meaning he couldn't hold anything in it. "D-Do you need help carrying your paint? Your arms seem full..."

He looked down at me in surprise. "Did you just make a joke?"

Had I made a joke? I thought I was just stating a fact. "D-Did I?"

He smirked and shook his helm at me, muttering quietly to himself. "A femme that doesn't even realize when she's made a joke..."

My door wings twitched with my confusion. Was I missing something?

"Will you grab me a can of gold, silver, red, and blue paint? Since I can't grab it."

I reached out and grabbed the cans he indicated, holding them close to my chassis. "Is that all you need?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

His arm stayed locked around my waist until we got closer to the front of the store, then he let go and took the paint cans I was holding to deposit them on the counter.

Lithium checked us out without making anymore comments on the fact that we were here together, which was probably a good thing. She quickly bagged the items and handed the large sack back over to Sunstreaker, who took it and led me out of the store quickly.

Something was bothering me about the fact that he let go of me when we were in front of Lithium. Were couples not supposed to have physical contact in front of other bots? Was it considered rude or something? Should I ask him?

"Sunstreaker?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, i-is it rude to touch in front of other bots?"

He turned his helm down towards me. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Oh... Ok." I ignored his question and focused on where we were walking. So it wasn't rude to touch in front of other bots? But he didn't seem to want to touch me in front of Lithium. I wonder why that was?

Any questions I had were pushed to the back of my processor when we made it to the marketplace. My door wings hitched apprehensively when I took in the dozens upon dozens of bots milling around at the stalls, or meandering in front of the stoors. I hated crowds... Why did the market have to be so busy today?

"Ugh... crowds..." Sunstreaker muttered. He looked at me when I didn't make a move to actually enter the market. "Are we gonna get your stuff or not?"

I went to answer him when a large mech shoved his way passed me rudely, nearly knocking me over. Instead I squeaked and dove behind Sunstreaker, clinging to his back armor and peeking around his broad frame fearfully as my spark raced in my chassis.

"Watch it fragger! You almost knocked her over!" He snapped at the mech before he was out of audio range.

His yell didn't get even a small response, not a glance back, or any sort of a reaction. The mech just kept going until he disappeared around the corner next to a cluster of buildings.

"Afthole." He grumbled, before looking down at me. "You okay?"

I ducked my helm with a mortified blush. "Y-Yeah... I j-just don't do well with c-crowds..."

His optics drifted down to my servos, which were locked on a piece of his lower back armor. "You and me both..."

I snapped back like I'd been burned, cheeks now blazing. "Sorry! I shouldn't have grabbed onto you without asking first!"

A soft grunt escaped him. "It's fine."

"But you..."

"But I what?"

My optics shot down to the ground evasively. "I just... thought that maybe you... didn't want me to touch you around others."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well because you let go of me when Lithium was around. So I figured that y-you might not want others to see me touching you."

He was silent for a moment or so, before he grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a building. Once out of sight he sat his bag down and stared at me unflinchingly. "Athena, I'm not big on public displays of affection."

Was that why he didn't want to touch me around Lithium? "Oh..."

"It's not really my thing. I'd rather show affection behind closed doors. It's just how I've always been."

So it was a comfort zone thing? I knew all about things like that. "I understand."

He looked towards the entrance of the alley briefly, before his optics slid back to mine and he surprised me by gently tugging on my servo until I was pulled to a stop right in front of him. After another moments hesitation his other arm slid around my back and tugged me flush against him.

My vents shuttered violently from the shock that accompanied his action. I didn't know whether to be afraid or not. "S-Sunstreaker?"

Instead of answering me he tilted his helm down and pressed his lips against mine feverishly.

I should have been afraid.

I had been scared of being in this situation with other mechs before.

But with him there was none of that.

There was only a sensation of sparks bursting straight down my spinal struts. I was momentarily overwhelmed by the feelings the act evoked in me, to the point that I didn't respond until he cupped my cheek and tilted my helm to the side slightly.

I pressed back slowly, hesitantly, unsure of what to do. Kissing was such a foreign act to me, that I was completely lost.

But he seemed determined for me to learn.

Kissing me hard and fast, with an intensity that he hadn't shown the first two times he had kissed me. I was hard pressed to keep up at all, but he didn't seem to slow down for me. If anything he seemed to lose himself in what he was doing.

Soft, yet firm, and very hot lips massaging mine roughly.

Somehow during this he ended up pushing me against the all behind us, his large frame seeming to close in on mine.

I vented hard as something stirred in my spark chamber and valve.

And just like that I turned my helm abruptly to the side, stopping him in his tracks.

Warm air buffeted my face, heat radiating off of his frame. I didn't need to ask why.

"What's wrong?"

I looked at him from the corner of my optic. "I just... you were going too fast."

"I was just kissing you."

"I know... I'm just n-not used to..." Kissing... Nobot had ever kissed me because they liked me. Well not somebot that I liked, somebot that I wanted to respond to. Never somebot that I didn't want to turn away. Not until him.

He grunted. "I could tell."

The look in his optics was one I could recognize. Frustration. "I'm sorry..." Why did I have to screw everything up?

"Don't be."

"But I..."

He pulled away and grabbed his bag. "Look, I got with you knowing that you weren't gonna be an easy femme. I'm ok with that, even if I'm not used to it. I know that I'm more experienced than you, and that I'll have to show you how to do things. I can work with that if you can work with me."

"Even if it takes a while for me to be ok with doing other things?"

"If I wasn't prepared to wait I wouldn't have bothered. I could have had a femme every night since we met if I really wanted to, but I don't."

Yes, he definitely could have had many femmes in the short time that we had known each other. Why did that revelation make me feel as if I was holding him back?

"You coming?"

When I looked up again he was standing at the end of the alley waiting for me. "Yes."

As I drew closer to him he surprised me by wrapping an arm around my shoulder and using it to steer me out into the crowded marketplace. Even so we didn't linger, instead we hit the stores or stalls I needed to go to, and then made a hasty escape back into downtown New Iacon.

We ended up going to the cafe where we took a seat in our regular booth near the back, only this time Sunstreaker sat next to me instead of across from me as he normally did. The arm that had been wrapped around my shoulders since the marketplace stayed where it was as well.

Even after Zenarith came over to our booth. "Athena! I didn't know that you and Sunstreaker were dating!"

Oh Primus... I was going to die of embarrassment. "I-I..." Swallowing heavily, I looked at Sunstreaker who was staring out the window instead of paying any attention to her. Did that mean he didn't care what I said? "We... are... dating...?" It came out as more of a question than anything.

He sighed without looking away from the window. "Yeah we are. Don't see how it's anybot else's business though."

Did that mean that he didn't care if anybot knew? Or that he didn't really want everybot to know, but couldn't keep it a secret since I had said something?

Zena squealed happily. "Oh this is such great news! You two just made my day! Anything you order is on the house!"

"Zena..." I protested.

"No! I'll get your favorite slice of spiced rust stick cake, and some sweet energon. What'll it be for you Sunstreaker?"

"A slice of spiced rust stick cake and some spiced energon."

"Alright. I'll have it out quick as a nitrous leopard pouncing on a glitch mouse!"

Sunstreaker turned to look at her as she made her way into the prep room. "What is with her and that phrase?"

I shrugged. "Um, I don't really know. She just says it a lot."

"Clearly." He leaned back against the seat more comfortably.

Maybe now was a good time to ask him whether he wanted others to know about us or not? "Sunstreaker?"

His optics slid over to regard me. "What?"

I bit my lip nervously. "Um, d-do you not... want others to know t-that we're dating?"

He blinked, before sitting up to face me more fully. "Do you?"

"Well... I think I'd want to wait and see if things actually work out first. We haven't been together that long..." I admitted truthfully.

"That's true."

"It's just that... you seemed irritated when I answered Zena, and I didn't want to say something that might upset you. If you don't want to admit that you're dating a femme like me I would understand..."

His optics flashed with some sort of emotion, then narrowed almost angrily. "I don't care if anybot knows about you. If I didn't think you were good enough I wouldn't have bothered doing any of this."

"Oh..."

He sighed. "Athena... I admit that I'd rather keep our relationship a secret for now on base for obvious reasons, but I don't care about anywhere else. Bots can see us together, and you can tell your friends as long as they don't tell everybot and their creator."

Tell Cee and her sisters? No thank you... then everybot would know, and they would try and track Sunstreaker down to threaten him in the event he ever hurt me. I didn't think he would. I knew how to read a bot. Sunstreaker may be moody, angry, and violent at times, but for some reason I knew he'd never turn that physically aggressive side on me. To me that was more comforting than anything he could have said.

"Isn't this cute?"

Sunstreaker and I looked up at the stormy blue femme that had implied I was dating him the day we had met.

She smiled sweetly as she placed our items down on the table. "So you two are on a date again?"

"Frag off Stormstream."

"I have fragged off right in front of you many times before. You never seemed to complain."

I gaped at her in mortification. D-Did she r-really just say that?!

She completely ignored me in favor of leaning over the tabletop so that her chassis was right in his face. "Does that mean I won't get invited over for some fun until you get tired of this femme and come back to me?"

That was the moment that it really clicked in my helm.

Sunstreaker and this femme had... been together before...

For some reason my self esteem took an even bigger dip when I looked her over. She was beautiful and well endowed.

I was nothing like that...

I was just embarrassing him...

I ducked my helm down, gently pushed his arm off of me, and scooted towards the edge of the booth so that I could leave. What was I even thinking when I agreed to be with such a good looking mech? I wasn't his equal in any way!

Before I could make it very far something clamped down around my waist and pulled me in the direction I had come, bringing me flush against his side.

"Stay put." He commanded sternly.

Why? So she could keep talking about things I didn't want to hear?

The femme pouted at him. "I just don't see what you see in this femme Sunstreaker! You could have me!"

"Maybe because I'd rather have a femme that I can hold a decent conversation with? Not one that I'd rather shove my spike in her mouth just to stop the annoying screeching that comes out of it."

My jaw dropped, hers snapped shut with a resounding snap, then I proceeded to watch as she turned and released an audio piercing screech, before stomping back into the prep area.

I whipped around to gape at Sunstreaker who wasn't even looking at where she had disappeared. Instead he was staring at me.

"Don't worry about Storm. She's just a vain glitch who cares more about putting credits and spike into her frame than anything else."

"O-Oh..." I stammered in complete shock.

"Refuel."

"Ok..."

* * *

Later that night we stood outside the door of my unit, staring at one another quietly. I kept thinking over everything that had happened today, and how surprisingly nice our little outing was. Sunstreaker wasn't the most polite mech around, but he made an honest effort even when it was hard for him. And well, the way his arm felt when he had it wrapped aroun me was very nice.

I was sad to let it go, but I had an early shift in the med bay tomorrow... "Thank you for taking me out Sunstreaker."

"Was it ok?"

Maybe he was a little out of his element in this whole thing too? I ducked my helm with a blush staining my cheeks, then I shuffled forward and stood on my tippy-peds to peck him on the cheek once. "It was very nice."

As I lowered myself back down he grabbed my cheeks and pulled my face up to plaster our lips together. His lips gently caressing mine until I pushed back timidly.

In an astrosecond his arms were locked around my waist, while mine stayed pressed against his chassis uncertainly. Was I supposed to touch him a certain way? Or did I just kiss him and let him touch me the way he wanted?

His servos slid up and guided mine around his neck, then they moved back down to the middle of my back.

And our lips stayed locked together for another klik or two, before he finally pulled away. His arms lingered for another klik afterwards, then they released me as well. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I gently touched my tingling lips. "O-Ok... Be safe on the way home."

He smirked. "I think I'll be fine femme. See you tomorrow."

With that he turned and made his way down the stairway, disappearing from my sight within astroseconds.

Leaving me to turn and make my way inside slowly. "Sparky! Danni's home!"

My little stream glider raced into the doorway and scurried up from my leg to my shoulder.

"Did you miss me?"

He clicked at me impatiently.

"I got you some goodies!" I walked over to unload my bags onto the counter, plucking the container of his energon up and walking over to pour some into his tray. "You remember Sunstreaker don't you?"

He looked up at me curiously.

"We went on a date today..."

 _ **Click, click, click.**_

"It was so nice... I still get confused sometimes... I mean why would he want me?" When I thought about it, and my past... I wondered if he'd want me if he knew about any of it? Would he ever bring it up? And if he did could I bring myself to talk about it?

Life before being adopted by Opi and Danni...

I shuddered to think about it.

Why was I thinking about things like that? "He was strangely sweet, in his own weird way. But he also has a temper, but strangely enough it didn't scare me. He cussed this femme out at the cafe for insulting me... She ran off into the prep room screeching!"

Sparky looked at me for another moment, before he scurried into his cage and stared lapping at his energon.

I patted his helm gently. "Maybe he's really different from other mechs..."

I hoped so...

* * *

R&R!


	7. Chapter 7: Entering Forbidden Territory

Yay! Lots of kissing! Hehe... Sunny can be a sweet mech when he wants to be! Anyways here's the reveal of what Athena's been working on! I wish I could paint and draw like her! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

A deca-cycle had gone by since Athena and I had somehow ended up together. It still seemed unreal at times when I thought about it. She was so vastly different from any femme I'd ever met before, pretty but didn't obsess to the point that she sank credit after credit into her frame, sweet but not in a fake way, and even more introverted than I was.

I found myself spending a lot of time with her after work, often hanging out with her at the cafe, or at her apartment. So far she hadn't let me go any further than the living room, or the prep area, and on one occasion I'd been allowed into the wash room when she accidentally spilled something on me.

Suffice to say that room made the whole place that much more inviting. Her shower was huge and had a massive tub, and the mirror over her sink showed all my best traits. I needed to get in there more often...

Anyways, we were still keeping our relationship a secret for the most part. No casual touching on base, and we didn't sit next to each other if anybot else was in the rec room. So far we'd done so well that even Sides hadn't found out about us.

Which was preferable really. I had no idea what he would say when I told him I was dating the shy little femme. Well I did kind of know... He'd make some sort of perverted comment about how he could get all three of us in the same berth within a few days.

Athena would most likely not like that very much, on account of the fact that she still fainted from time to time when I kissed her. At first it was kind of annoying, but now I actually found the behavior... kind of... endearing...? And now I felt disgusting for even using that word... Whatever the case she was easy to handle either way, but when she was passed out I could touch her or kiss her and she couldn't fall over because she was already passed out.

Which made me sound like some sort of creeper. And no I had not taken advantage of her during one of her episodes. I'd get her one day soon... when she was awake and aware of what was going on.

It would just take time. I had to work with her slowly, not push her too fast. Otherwise she'd run off screaming and I'd most likely never see her again.

Was it weird that I was already making those plans? Or more weird that possible interface wasn't my top priority right now? I was more interested in seeing her artwork, and getting to know her than everything else.

Weird...

Anyways, right now I was getting around to go over to her place like we'd planned after getting off shift yesterday. I just had to finish buffing out the last smudge from my chassis before I could leave my housing unit.

Sides walked into the living room as I was finishing up this task. He stopped right beside the couch and stared at me. "You already polished yourself two times this morning. How perfect can your armor look before you feel up to leaving the house?"

"It has to be perfect otherwise I can't let anybot see me!" I worked my buffing tool curiously over the smudge but it wouldn't get the frag off my armor! "Primus fraggit!"

"Um, Sunny? There's no smudge there..." Sides pointed out cautiously.

"How can you not see it?!" I couldn't go over to Athena's place with a smudge on my armor!

"There's no smudge."

"Yes there is."

"No there's not."

"Sides I know there's a smudge there! I can see it!"

He grabbed my buffing tool and yanked it away from my servos, then he pointed at my left chest plate where the disgusting smudge sat. "Sunny there is no smudge there... I'm looking it over and it's gleaming! If you keep working this thing over your armor you're going to eventually go down to the protoform, then you're going to glitch about messing up your paint."

There was a fragging smudge on me! Oh Primus was my paint chipped?! "There's a chip in my paint!"

"No there isn't! It looks flawless!"

"Give me my tool back so I can fix it!"

"No!"

"Sides!"

He held my buffing tool well out of my reach, unless I stood up to take it. "Sunny you're being more ridiculous than usual. Your paint looks fine... If you don't stop this madness I will take you to Ratchet and have him perform a scan on your processor."

No! Then I'd never make it to Athena's place and I'd never make it into her studio! "No! Then I'll be late!"

Sides raised an optic ridge at me. "Late for what?"

Scrap! Had to think of an excuse! "I'm going to meet somebot to talk about a possible commission!"

His jaw dropped and he almost dropped my buffing tool. "What?! You're going to paint something for somebot?"

"Yeah. I thought it would help supplement our income."

"You're being serious? Like really serious? You never paint anything for anybot!"

That was true... "Well maybe it wouldn't hurt to start?"

He didn't look like he knew what to say...

And I didn't have time to answer him, because I had to leave otherwise I wouldn't make it to Athena's place on time. With that thought in mind I stood and took my buffing tool to put back in my subspace. "So do I look good?"

"For the dozenth time yes!"

"Alright. So before I go, what are you planning on doing today?"

"Well I was gonna get together with Seraphina."

"Ah... well have fun with that. I'll see you later tonight."

With that I turned and made my way outside onto the streets of New Iacon, transforming and taking off down the road towards Athena's apartment building. Luckily it was only a five klik drive when you were breaking every speed limit known to Cybertron, meaning I got there in record time.

But when I transformed and made my way up to her third floor unit I stopped in front of the door and glanced down at my chassis... And the fragging smudge was still there! I glanced around before ripping a polishing rag and some wax out of my subspace, and from there I proceeded to furiously work at the spot until it shone.

Well that was the plan, but Athena's door opened revealing her standing there with a crate of junk that needed to be thrown out.

I froze to stare at her mid-circle in buffing my armor out, and she just stared at me as her door wings twitched once with confusion.

"Um, Sunstreaker? Wh-what are you doing?"

"I had a smudge on my armor that was driving me crazy."

She sat the crate down in one of the designated junk pick up areas. "Oh... Why didn't you buff it out at home?"

"I tried."

After taking a step back into her unit she turned sideways and made a sweeping motion with her arm. "Well... you can come in..."

I subspaced my rag and made my way inside to sit on the couch in the living area. My optics drifted around the room until she came through the entryway and settled herself on the other end of the couch.

It was then that I noticed specks of purple paint on her servos and forearms, which piqued my interest. I had been meaning to get her to let me see some of her work. "You were working on something?"

Her door wings stiffened and she quickly hid her forearms from my view. "N-No!"

"So you have paint on you for no reason?"

She looked at me with the same look that Sides wore when I caught him stealing some of my paint for his pranks.

I raised an optic ridge at her. "I know you were working on something."

"I-t's just that... I don't know..."

The way she was fidgeting so horribly didn't deter me from wanting to see, in fact it made me want to find out what she had been working on before I had come over. "You'll never gain any confidence if nobot ever sees your artwork." I tried persuading her.

"Or my self esteem will take an even bigger hit when somebot puts it down."

"I won't put it down."

She looked at me with her door wings spread out behind her nervously, and a look of complete insecurity on her face. Her optics shot towards the the hallway, then they slowly crept back up to my face. "Promise?"

"I promise."

After almost a breem of her just sitting there staring at me, she finally stood and started towards the hallway.

I followed close behind her as she typed it a code into the door console, which caused it to hiss open. Before I could walk inside she turned and blocked the doorway off from me. "Athena?"

"You can't take any pictures of anything you see in here! And you can't tell anybot about anything I'm working on!" She demanded seriously.

"I wouldn't do that."

"Promise me!"

This was the first time I'd ever seen her so defiant and fiery before... I never knew she had it in her. "I promise that I will not say anything to anybot, or take any pictures of your work."

She stared me down for another klik or so before turning and leading me into the room.

A room which turned out to be more loaded with canvases than I thought. They were literally everywhere, some finished, others were in the process of being worked on still. Quite a few were Cybertronian landscapes or cities, both before and after the war ended. Others were abstract works, and surprisingly I would consider some of them rather dark and brooding? I guess everybot had their bad moments though.

What matters is that I was completely surprised by just how good her artwork was. I had expected decent, but not such high levels of detail, depicted with such a variety of colors that melded together perfectly.

It reminded me of my studio at home, only mine didn't have such a good view of downtown New Iacon. I could see myself sitting in the large bay window while I painted, or staring out of it when I needed inspiration.

"This is what I've been working on."

When I looked over she was standing in front of a canvas situated in front of the window, which was covered in a tarp. I walked over to stand beside her as she gripped the edges and gently pulled it off so as not to smudge the still wet paint.

The picture beneath made me fully stall out.

It was perfection...

The merfemme in the picture was made up of royal purple, gold, sapphire blue, a lighter blue, and silver. She was sitting on a rock with her delicate silver servo pointed up to the surface, where another servo was reaching back down towards her.

Her long purple tail was curved back up over where her hips would be if she were a normal femme, her chassis was decorated in the same shade and was well endowed. A purple helm, capped in a golden crown that split sideways in two horns bent back over either side, had flowing blue cables billowing out from beneath it. In the center of the golden crown was a deep sapphire blue gem, which offset the color of her optics and cables.

The expression on her face was one of joy, tinged with sadness.

I could only stare at it in awe...

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Sunstreaker hadn't said a word since I'd shown him my most recent work, and it was only making me grow more nervous.

Why was he just staring at it without moving?

Did he not like it?

I knew that he wouldn't!

Why was nothing I did ever good enough?

The longer he stood there staring, the more self conscious I felt about him looking at it. To the point where I started shoving at him to make him get out of my studio, only he wouldn't move! He was just too fragging heavy for me to push around!

It got him to snap out of it though, optics snapping down to mine. "Athena? What are you doing?"

"Get out!" I all but screeched at him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Just get out!"

He grabbed hold of my flailing arms and pinned them behind my back. "Calm down."

But I was too far gone to calm down as he so eloquently put it. "I knew I shouldn't have let you come in here! You're just standing there criticizing it! I knew this would-!"

Anything I was about to say was cut off when he suddenly slammed his lips on mine, and proceeded to kiss me until I went weak in the knee joints again.

Then he pulled back and kept me pinned against his front. "I wasn't criticizing it Athena. It was just so much better than anything I ever expected."

My spark slowed down from where it had been racing in my chassis, slowing to almost a complete stop. D-Did he really just say something nice about my artwork? "Wh-what?"

"I think it's amazing."

Those words made me so happy that before I even realized what had happened coolant was spilling down my cheeks. "Y-You really think so?"

He nodded. "Yeah. You put so much detail into what you do that everything looks amazing."

I didn't even know how to respond to a compliment like that. Sure Opi, Danni, and even Cee had complimented my work before, but they had known me for a long time. They had to like what I did because we were family.

"Why were you thinking when you painted that?"

"I was thinking that the only times that merfemme is ever happy, is when her mech comes to see her. But even then it's tinged with sadness, because she can't go where he is, and he can't be where she is. The most they can do is brush their servos together beneath the surface of the sea. It's bittersweet."

Just like I could never reach out and take what I wanted...

"Sounds like that painting tells a story and you shouldn't care what anybot thinks. What matters is that you conveyed your thoughts and feelings on the canvas, and as long as it tells the story you intended any criticism shouldn't matter."

Digits slid up to swipe the coolant tracks from my cheeks, bright blue optics peering down at me with a gentleness that I wouldn't expect from him.

My spark started racing all over again, creating the sensation of zip flies fluttering around in my tanks. It was so strong and sudden that I didn't know what to do. The feeling of confusion was something that I felt often when he did something I couldn't figure out, or that I didn't quite understand.

And he did them often.

How could I understand the complexities of the way he acted, or the things he did? I had barely even gotten the hang of holding servos, or letting him wrap an arm around me, and let's not even get started on the subject of kissing.

Sometimes I still fainted when he did that!

"Do you really mean it? You think it's good?" I asked again, just to be sure.

"Everything in here is beyond good."

For some reason the words he spoke soothed any fear I had over what he thought of my art. It didn't mean that I was going to go around showing everybot, but I felt a little better about allowing him to come in here.

Good enough that I suddenly felt a little bold, which was unusual for me. "So since I showed you my art, does that mean I get to see yours too?"

He looked like he hadn't been expecting the question, but was contemplating something. All of a sudden his optics brightened and his lips tugged up in a smirk. "How about I make you a deal?"

"A deal?" I questioned nervously.

"I'll paint you."

"What?"

"I said I'll paint you."

My door wings twitched, broadcasting my confusion. "What... do I have to do for you...?"

He smirked wider. "Paint something for me."

"So a painting for a painting?" Sounded fair enough but... "Why can't I just come to your place and see your studio? I let you see mine."

"Because I don't live alone, and my brother can be a menace sometimes. I don't want him to scar you for life."

I felt myself twitch. "Scar me for life?"

"He can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. You're not ready to meet him yet." His optics shined when he talked about his brother, meaning he must love him a lot.

My spark pulsed painfully when that thought reminded me of things I had never had... And of things that I wished I could be rid of forever...

I forced myself to smile at him anyways. "Sounds like you care about him a lot."

Before he could answer my fuel tanks rumbled hungrily.

He raised an optic ridge at me. "Sounds like you didn't refuel this morning."

I looked at him sheepishly. "Painting... I forgot..."

"Obviously." With a sigh he took my arm and led me out into the hallway. "You want to refuel here? Or go out to the cafe?"

"Here is good. I, um, actually got around to making that mercury cake last night. It's in the freezer chilling right now."

"Turn out alright?"

"Haven't tried it yet..." I admitted quietly, then I thought of something that made me start rambling a little. "well that's not really true... I did lick the mixer last night and it tasted good then!"

We walked into the refueling area, which I had decorated with a small granite table with four chairs for anybot to sit in, located near the far wall.

"Have a seat and I'll get you a slice if you want to try it."

"Sure."

He sat down on the opposite side of the table, so that he was facing me as I pulled the mercury cake out of the freezer, then got some cubes around for energon. "I haven't tried this yet, but I imagine that it would go very good with warm spiced energon. Would you like that, sweet, or regular mid grade energon?"

"Warm spiced is fine."

I set about heating up some mid grade, then mixing in warm rust stick flakes to give it a spiced taste. While I waited for that to be done I cut two slices of mercury cake and put them on plates.

Sparky came scurrying in while I was doing that, climbing up onto the countertop to watch me work.

"He's like a petro hound." Sunstreaker commented.

I giggled. "Kind of. He does like to get into things he's not supposed to."

Like anything in reach but I chose not to say that, instead I grabbed his lunch and sat it on the table in front of him. Then I went back to get mine, only to freeze when I saw Sparky eating my cake... "Sparky!"

He shot up onto his hind legs, giving him a clear view of me staring him down with my servos on my hips. Then in a flash he shoved what remained of the cake in his cheeks and took off into the other room.

"Did he really just shove that whole slice into his cheeks?"

I sighed and set about slicing another piece of cake for myself. "Yes... He's quite good at that..."

Once I was done I took my meal over to the table and paused in front of it. Did I just sit beside him? Or across from him? I sat beside him in the cafe a few times... But were we supposed to do that behind closed doors? Or did it even matter?

"What are you doing?" He asked when I just continued standing there.

Door wings twitching nervously, I felt my cheeks heating up in another blush. "D-Do I just sit next to you? O-Or do we not have to do that when we're visiting one another?"

One optic ridge raised in question. "Athena not everything has to be so complicated. Just do what feels normal."

Nothing felt normal though...

What I was feeling must have shown, because he sighed and sat his fork down. "Do you want to sit next to me?"

It only took me a moment to come up with an answer to that question. "Yes."

"Then it's as easy as doing what you want to do."

And he left it at that, waiting expectantly for me to do something.

I made my way around to the side he was on and sat down next to him. Another question ate at me, even as I watched him start eating the mercury cake. "S-So... if it's as e-easy as doing what I want... d-does that mean as long as we're not on base I can touch you when I want to?"

"Do I do what I want to you?"

"I think so."

He swallowed. "Then you can do whatever you want to me, within reason. I don't like super clingy femmes who always screech at me in public, and won't let go of me from the time I see them to the time we go our separate ways."

"So once in a while it's ok to touch you?"

"Most of the time yes. Just respect my space when I need you to."

"But how do I tell if you want me to keep my distance?"

He grunted. "You'll be able to tell. Trust me."

Oh... so those moments when he looked especially grumpy? That had happened a few times and he had refused to even talk to me.

"This stuff is good."

I blinked. "The cake?"

"All of it."

"Thank you."

"So what do you want to do after we're done?"

Normally I would play COV, but since he was here I wasn't going to be rude. "Do you feel like watching a movie?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

Maybe this dating thing wasn't as hard as I thought it would be?

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

"HOW DO YOU KEEP KILLING ME FEMME?!" Side screamed from the other side of the door.

Just what I wanted to come home to after spending time with Athena. I thought he was supposed to be with Seraphina, but maybe she bugged out early or something. Whatever the case, he was sitting in front of the TV, furiously smashing buttons on a controller while his COV avatar raced around on the screen.

Only to get shot in the helm by somebot in the lobby.

"FEMME! STOP SNIPING ME! AND GIVE ME YOUR FRAGGING COMM FREQUENCY ALREADY!"

 _ **"No thank you."**_ A light, lyrical voice responded through the speaker system.

"How do you keep doing that anyways?!" Sides raged.

"She probably plays this game as much as you do. That's how." I muttered as I walked around to sit beside him on the couch. "Where's Seraphina?"

"Uhhhh... she had to go home a few joors ago." He answered without looking away from the screen. "Fragging femme and her sniper rifles and smoke grenades... She's killed me fifteen times in the last breem!"

"Having some problems?"

At the same moment that I asked that he got gunned down, apparently by the same femme, because he jumped up and started yelling again. "COME AND FACE ME FEMME! FACE TO FACE! STOP HIDING AND PLAY FAIR! AND FOR THE LOVE OF PRIMUS GIVE ME YOUR COMM FREQUENCY ALREADY!"

 _ **"No. No. And hm... using a sniper rifle is perfectly fair. I think I like wiping the board with you!"**_

Sides' optic twitched.

I'd never seen him so riled up over a game before, and it made me laugh. "I think I like that femme Sides..."

"Who's side are you on?!"

"Neither. But at this rate you're going to have to make another frag call just to relieve all the tension building up in you."

My twin just slumped down against the couch with a pitiful groan when he was killed yet again. "I know... Fragging hot gamer femmes...!"

Idiot...

* * *

R&R! Poor Sides!


	8. Chapter 8: Confrontations

Poor Sides doesn't even know that his brother has a femmefriend, and that she's the one sniping him on that game! Poor thing! Sunny's reaction to her being a gamer will probably be utter shock, or maybe the fact that he'll most likely walk in on her cussing somebot out on there will be more shocking. Hehe! I love Athena... Anyways I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

"Athena did you sort those medical files like I asked you to?"

Uncle Ratchet's voice had me looking up from what I was working on, which coincidentally happened to be what he was asking me about. "Yes Uncle, I was just finishing them up now. Why?"

He turned back to whatever he was tinkering with. "They just need to be taken care of is all."

"I'm just about done with them. Was there anything else you needed me to do?"

"No. Nothing else that I can think of, other than your vornly physical which you seem to think I don't remember needs to be done."

Oh scrap! Why did he always have to remember the vornly physicals? They were the bane of my existence! "Do I have to...?" I whined as my door wings drooped pitifully, in the hopes that he would take pity on me and allow me to put it off for another day.

After a moment he turned around with an optic ridge raised at me. "Yes you do. Vornly examinations are very important."

"Noooooo..."

He brandished a wrench, and that had me scrambling up onto a berth. "I always knew you were smart."

Sometimes I questioned the truth of that statement, but either way I didn't move as he scanned, poked, and prodded me for roughly a joor. Which really sucked even if it did need to be done.

And invasive scans did suck. Very much.

They felt like something was literally squirming around on your insides... Ugh!

At least it was done relatively quickly, and afterwards I was allowed to leave the med bay and go home since I didn't have comms duty afterwards. I was tempted to go see Opi or Danni, but they had a meeting today, and Cee was off on patrol so I couldn't hang out with her either.

I hadn't seen Sunstreaker all day either, which was odd. But he had commed me this morning to tell me he had patrol, then comms duty so maybe he was still there. We didn't see each other every single solar cycle, so I wasn't too worried about it.

I walked down the mostly empty halls of the base, towards the rec room in silence. Nobot seemed to be around at all and it made me feel strangely paranoid. It felt like something was just going to ponce on me out of nowhere.

Maybe I should just go home? I could refuel there and not have to worry about anything going on around me. Yes that sounded like a good idea.

With that thought lodged in my processor, I turned and hastily made my way towards the nearest exit. Which happened to be the one more towards the back of the base, that was rarely used. If I was being rational I would use the more busy entrance, since there was always somebot around.

But I just wanted to get out of the base as soon as possible.

My door wings sat rigidly on my shoulders, straining the joints there until an ache started forming. Only minutely loosening when the exit came into view, which was a relief. Relief that came to a screeching halt when something suddenly wrenched at one of my door wings, ripping a pained cry from my vocalizer as whatever had grabbed onto me yanked my frame up form the floor by my wing.

The sensation of somebot holding me up from my wing was like pure agony. Agony so strong that my entire frame just went limp from the overload of sensations. Making it hard to concentrate on the sudden boisterous laughter going on all around me.

Scourge... and his lackeys...

Why now?

"My, my... look at what we have here." The mech in question purred. "I caught the little resident errand bot by the wing."

Pain caused coolant to start pooling at my optic ridge.

Panic welling up in my spark when several more tall frames stalked into view.

"Why... do you always... have to do this to me...? I didn't do anything to you!" I whimpered. Why could I never defend myself from anybot? It was always like this!

"You're an easy target." Scourge commented.

"So you just get off on bullying me? M-Maybe you need to find a hobby?"

He suddenly wrenched hard on my door wing, ripping it out of the joint, and ripping an agonized cry from me. "I think that you need to just shut your fragging mouth." Between one moment and the next he slammed me face first into the floor with the bulk of his weight.

What was it with me that made every bad mech seek me out? Why was I the femme that they all wanted to brutalize in any way possible?!

And why could I never do anything to stop it short of crying for help?

I couldn't do that now. I didn't want to involve anybot that I cared about in my problems. Especially one as petty as being bullied by fellow Autobots. It was just about as pathetic as anything could get.

Then Opi and Danni would have to worry about me when they'd already done enough for me! And Cee would get herself hurt trying to protect me since I couldn't do it myself! And Uncle Ratchet would bludgeon any mech that even looked at me wrong if he found out! And Sunstreaker... I didn't even know what he would do. Or if he even cared enough to do anything at all.

I gasped as Scourge dug his knee into the center of my back, right over where my back strut was.

"You know Athena... this all could have been avoided if you hadn't turned me down when we met. Now I have to keep teaching you a lesson, and my friends came to help when I told them that you were too timid to fight back."

"She might be, but I'm not." A familiar voice suddenly growled out in a menacing tone.

Within an astrosecond Scourge's weight was ripped off of me, and the sound of metal slamming into metal started bouncing off the walls. The only thing that I could see from where I was laying on the floor, were the other mechs' fearful gazes, before they took off running out of the rear exit.

I whimpered as I forced my frame up against the wall, gingerly cradling my limp door wing as best I could when it was throbbing in agony and even a small touch made it worse. But at least I could see what was going on, though I really wished I hadn't.

Because the sight of Sunstreaker pinning Scourge against the wall and beating his face in wasn't something that I wanted to see. Or more like, I didn't want him to see the things that sometimes happened to me on base. Now he was going to know how pathetic I was, how much trouble I caused, and why it wasn't worth it to be with me.

My attacker was barely conscious at the moment that his helm was slammed against the wall, my mechfriend leaning in close to his face and practically snarling. "If I ever catch you putting your servos on her again, I will kill you! Do you understand me? You better not even look at her again!"

Scourge didn't respond, or it was more like he couldn't because he was unconscious. He ended up being tossed to the floor like a sack of scrap metal.

Then Sunstreaker was in front of me, optics moving over my frame before locking on my limp door wing.

"It's fine..." I lied. It really wasn't fine... If anything it hurt, but I was good at dealing the the pain of somebot ripping at my door wings. The pain was something that you could learn to tolerate, not that it stopped it from being agonizing. It was something that I was used to.

"No it's not. I know how sensitive door wings are."

"Just let it go."

His optics snapped to my face, surprise, and anger residing in them. "Let it go? They ganged up on you like a bunch of cowards!"

I forced myself to stand up. "I said it's fine!"

He stood too. "You should go see Ratchet."

"No. I can fix it myself!"

If I went to the med bay and Uncle saw this he'd demand to know what happened and then I'd have to lie to him. I wasn't going to go complain to anybot about being bullied like a grade school sparkling! This wasn't even that bad!

But he didn't seem to want to let it go, because within a klik he was next to me. "So you're not going to say anything about this to Prowl or Prime?"

Opi's reaction was even more scary to think about that uncle's... I wasn't even going to go there. "No I'm not."

He grunted. "Fine. But I'm coming with you so that I can help you set that wing."

"Fine."

After making a quick exit out of the back door we walked to my apartment in silence. He seemed to be thinking about something, and I was beating myself up over how stupid I was. Why didn't I just go to the front door like I should have? Now Sunstreaker knew that I was being hassled by mechs on base.

I was so fragging stupid!

When we got there after walking for a breem or so, we set right to work on popping my wing back into its' joint. I had Sunstreaker hold it up, then I instructed him on how to shove it back into place, while I leaned forward over the table and bit down on a cleaning cloth to help me deal with the pain.

"Ready?"

I shut my vocalizer off and nodded.

All it took was one quick jerk, then a shove for the stabilizer to be forced back into its' joint. And it hurt almost as much as having it ripped out of the joint in the first place. It was all I could do not to do something as pointless as screaming when it wouldn't make a sound. Luckily it was over relatively quickly, leaving my door wing throbbing but intact again.

I twitched it experimentally and winced at the shock of pain that shot straight down from the joint, down my back strut. It would take a few days for the pain to die down, and until then I wouldn't be able to move my wing much.

At least it was fixed. That was the only positive.

I chanced a glance at Sunstreaker who was staring at me intensely. Obviously he wanted some sort of answer as to what had happened, but I didn't want to give any.

"What the frag was all that about?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

He looked at me incredulously. "So we're not going to talk about the fact that I heard you scream, came running, and found you being beaten on by that mech and his lackeys?"

"No we're not." With that I stood and made my way into my fuel prep room to get some energon.

Only he followed along after me. "I think we should."

What part of, _**'I don't want to talk about it'**_ did he not understand? "Please drop it."

He moved in front of my storage cabinets to block them from me. "I want to know what was going on now! Why the frag was he attacking you? He even ripped out your door wing for Primus sake!"

"It's not a big deal."

"The frag it isn't a big deal! Does this happen often?"

More often than I'd like to admit to myself. "No."

He scowled at me. "You're lying."

"No I'm not!"

"Like pit you aren't! I can tell that you're not being honest with me!"

I couldn't see why it mattered so much to him anyways! He hadn't even known me that long, yet here he was getting all invasive! Why the pit did it matter to him whether I was being bullied or not? He barely knew anything about me! "Why do you care anyways?"

He snapped back like somebot had smacked him. "What?"

"I asked why you care! You haven't even known me that long!"

"Are you implying that I'm with you for no reason outside of just being with you?"

My spark pulsed with pain, mixing with the humiliation and frustration already overwhelming me. It all mixed together, morphing into an emotion I felt sparingly. Anger. I just exploded at him too fast to think better of what I was doing. "I DON'T KNOW OKAY?! ALL I KNOW IS THAT YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME BEING WITH ME WHEN YOU COULD BE WITH SOMEBOT BETTER!"

Admitting that out loud hurt more than I expected it to. So much that I spun around and took off running down the hallway and into my berthroom, locking the door afterwards. How could I be so stupid? What possessed me to make me say that?!

A muffled knock came from the door no more than half a klik later. "Open the door Athena."

And face him? There was no way I could do that after embarrassing myself so much! "Just go please!"

It seemed like he listened, because ped steps started up then faded away followed by the sound of my door opening and closing. Meaning he left me alone like I thought I wanted... But the more I sat on my berth thinking about everything, the more the fact that he left bothered me.

Most likely because it meant we were over.

Why would he want to be with me when I yelled at him and took my frustrations out on him? When he could have so much better than me...

Even so...

Why did I suddenly want him to come back?

I could comm him and ask him to, but I didn't.

I didn't deserve him...

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I laid on my berth staring at the ceiling in thought, contemplating what had happened last night with Athena. She'd lashed out at me in anger, which was so unexpected that it had truly shocked me. Normally she was so timid, and seemed like she couldn't hurt a zip fly. And then something in her had snapped, and she had yelled at me, raged, spewed things that bothered me.

Maybe it was the assumption that I was doing something that wasn't worth my time? She had said that she wasn't worth my time. Normally I would have agreed after she yelled at me to leave. But for some reason I couldn't. Thinking about it had kept me up all night long for the most part. Tormenting me with questions of why I couldn't just let it go. Why did I not want to see her one more time to tell her it wasn't going to work out?

I hated when femmes screeched at me, or tried bossing me around.

Yet she did both and I hadn't commed her to drop her like I had any other femme who had done the same things.

I could do it, and I could have a femme in my berth before midday if I really wanted to. But I didn't want to. The thought only made me cringe.

My spark pulsed, nagging at me to find her and make things right. I wanted to curse myself for even letting it get this far, but I couldn't do that. Because I felt something for Athena, that I couldn't describe. It was something I'd never felt before. I didn't want to just say frag her and be done with it.

Athena deserved more than that.

Why did I care about that though? About what some femme deserved?

Since when had I cared about what anybot wanted but Sides or myself?

"Since the moment I realized I cared about that little femme..." I muttered to myself irritably. Look at what she had turned me into... some mushy fragger that gave a scrap about somebot other than myself.

The door to the berthroom opened and Sides popped his helm in. "Sunny? You gonna get out of berth anytime today?"

"Not if I can help it."

He slowly ambled up to the end of my berth. "What's wrong with you? You came home last night in a huff, and you've been brooding since."

Because of a little white and gold femme who was driving me insane! "I don't want to talk about it." I was struck by the irony of those same words that she had used falling from my mouth.

My twin poked and prodded at me over the bond annoyingly. "C'mon Sunny! Just tell me what's buggin' you already!"

I turned away from him. "Don't you have comms duty this morning?"

"Yeah I do, but I'm not leaving until you get off this berth you big lump of scrap."

I glared at him. "Call me that again!"

He smirked. "Get up off that berth and I won't insult you again."

With a growl I sat up and swung my legs over the side of my berth. "Fine!"

"You're way moodier than usual today bro." Sides commented cheekily as he followed me into the living area. "Did a femme run out on you last night or something?"

No. More like she locked herself in her berthroom and sent me away. Why did his guess have to be so close to the truth? "Stop being an idiot."

I stomped into the fuel prep room, where Sides hefted himself up onto the counter and watched me get my morning energon. "Being an idiot is an art. Now are you going to tell me what put you in such a bad mood? Or do I have to guess?"

Irritation raged through my every sensor. "Don't even think about it."

"A femme running out on you is already out... So somebot scratched your paint?"

"No."

"The art store didn't have the paint you wanted?"

"No."

"Did somebot drive by and splash oil on you again?"

"Did I look like I had oil all over me when I came home?" I shot back.

He shrugged. "You could've doused yourself with polish and cleaned it off before making it home."

"Yes Sides, I did that." I snatched up my energon cube and stomped into the living room to sit on the couch.

And of course he plopped right down beside me, and proceeded to stare at me. "Seriously?"

"Of course not!"

"So if it's not about your paint what is it about?"

I slammed my cube down on the table. "I just had a bad day yesterday ok? I don't want to talk about it either!"

He held his servos up in surrender. "Ok. Fine. I'll stop bugging you about whatever it is you don't want to talk about."

A quick glance at his somber expression made me feel bad, because my twin didn't deserve to have me yelling at him like this. Sometimes I just couldn't help it, but Sides was just trying to help in his own way. "Look Sides... I'm sorry for yelling. It's just that I don't want to talk about it right now ok?"

"It's ok Sunny. I know that you're having a tough time right now. I do wish that you would talk to me about it though."

Talk to him about Athena? Maybe if we ever worked things out... He'd find out at some point anyways... "I will Sides... Just not now ok? Besides, you're gonna be late if you don't get going."

He stood up. "Yeah you're right, and Prowl will have my aft if I'm late again."

"Yeah he will."

With that he turned to leave, only to stop just short of the door. "I know that you're struggling with whatever's bothering you Sunny, but sometimes the answers to our problems are easier to find than we expect." After saying that he finally walked out and left me alone in the house.

Sometimes the answers to our problems are easier to find than we expect huh? If that was true, was I just making the situation with Athena more complicated than it needed to be? Or was she making the situation more complicated? She was the one that started screaming at me about her not being good enough for me, and about how I was wasting my time by being with her.

The fact was that I never wasted my time doing something that wasn't worthwhile, especially if it involved a femme. I just did what I wanted or needed, then I sent them packing without a second thought. If they couldn't offer me something I wanted or needed there was no reason to keep them around.

Athena gave me quite a few things that I craved.

Meaning I craved her...

Which, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I more than just liked her.

I felt something for her in the short time that I had known her.

Wasn't that the point of making the decision to get to know her?

Deep down I hadn't expected anything to come from it, if anything I had expected myself to grow tired of her relatively quickly. But for some reason I hadn't gotten tired of going to see her, or talking to her about her art, or meeting up with her at the cafe after work a few nights out of each quartex.

I couldn't name what I felt no matter how hard I tried.

I just knew that I cared about her.

And I just listened to her when she told me to leave, when she probably needed me.

A grunt escaped me as I leaned back against the couch cushions. "That femme is slowly but surely driving me insane..." Crazy enough to admit that I had feelings for her...

So what now? Sit here and brood? Or go to her place and talk things out? What if she didn't want to see me again? Why did I feel afraid that she wouldn't? Why did I have to care at all? And why did the recurring images of that mech pinning her down send such rage through me still?

She'd made it clear that she didn't want my help when she refused to tell me why!

It wasn't like a femme such as Athena could be too embarrassed or prideful to admit that she needed help... Could she?

 _ **"Why do you care anyways?!"**_

Could she...?

 _ **"I asked why you care! You haven't even known me that long!"**_

The more I thought about it...

" _ **I DON'T KNOW OKAY?! ALL I KNOW IS THAT YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME BEING WITH ME WHEN YOU COULD BE WITH SOMEBOT BETTER!"**_

The more clear it became that she embarrassed about me having seen her like that. Everything that she had said should have given me all the answers I needed, but I never stopped to think about it before. She hated being so vulnerable, or admitting that she needed help. So she didn't want to talk to me about it when I demanded to know what had happened. It was also why she refused to go to Prowl or Prime to let them know what had happened, and why she wouldn't go to Ratchet to get her door wing fixed.

Athena was timid, but she was also too stubborn to ask for help.

Kind of like me, only I could and would defend myself from others if I needed to. She would just hide the fact that it ever happened...

I needed to talk to her...

With that thought in mind I got up and left the house after locking it up.

As I walked down the street the thought that maybe she was working today did occur to me. Making me freeze only a few yards from my housing unit. If she wasn't home it would be a wasted trip.

I opened a comm link. **:Are you at work?:**

It only took her a few kliks to respond. **:No.:**

 **:Can I come over? We need to talk.:**

 **:If you're going to break up with me just do it over the comm link.:**

 **:Nobot ever said anything about breaking up yet! Just answer the question! Are you home?:**

 **:Yes.:**

I started down the walkway again. **:Ok. I'm coming over.:**

It only took me a breem or so to make it to her place, with me using the time to figure out what I wanted to say. I was more of an action kind of mech, but it seemed that Athena was more confused about how things worked between us than I thought. She would need verbal reassurances that I wasn't angry at her... Ugh... the only being that I had ever bothered doing anything like this with was Sides... Hopefully I didn't mess it up.

I made it to her door and rang the bell, waiting only for a klik or so until she opened the door and allowed me to walk inside. She followed me into the living room and we both took a seat on opposite ends of her couch.

She wasn't looking at me at all, her door wings were sitting rigidly on her back, and she was ringing her servos together nervously.

Maybe this was a good time to say something? Too bad I hadn't gotten any farther into what I should say during the walk over here. "Athena-!" I cut off when she suddenly turned and bowed her helm at me.

"I'm sorry!"

That wasn't what I was expecting. "What?"

She lifted her helm, revealing trails of coolant streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry!"

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I just... I yelled at you and said things that I shouldn't have! You were only trying to help and I lost my temper and treated you poorly and I'm really, really, really, really sorry! I had no right to act that way to you when you didn't deserve it! I understand that you were just trying to help me and-!"

Mid-rant I reached out and put my servo over her mouth to stop anything else she had to say. "It's ok Athena. I understand why you acted that way."

She pushed my servo away. "It's not ok!"

"Nobot is perfect Athena, we all have our off days. We all react differently to things that stress us out. You were upset and you lashed out at me, and that's ok. At least you didn't react how I normally do, I usually hit bots for even touching me."

Everything I was saying seemed to have the opposite effect of what I was aiming for. If anything she shook her helm before turning away and curling more in on herself. "It's not the same." She whispered.

"No not really, because you're not like me. You're a better bot than I am."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

Her door wings twitched up to an angle that must be uncomfortable. "You're wasting your time with me."

"No I'm not." I growled before I could think better of it.

"Yes you are."

With that one last comment I felt the thin hold I had on my control snap, resulting in my servos lashing out and all but dragging her onto my lap. And once she was there I slid one around the back of her helm, and another around her back to hold her in place, and once she was secure I slammed my lips onto hers. Fragging femme, making me feel so unlike myself! Forcing me to do things that I would never normally do! Like caring about the pain she was going through when I should only care about myself or Sides!

And frag her for making me want to kiss her senseless like I was right now!

For every rapid movement of my lips against her soft and small ones...

For the way her arms latched onto my shoulders as she responded hesitantly.

I'd never kissed a femme with so much hunger before, not even during interface. I'd never held one to me so fiercely either.

But Athena fit perfectly against my front, and her lips fit even better against mine.

My glossa slipped out to flick at her lips, and a soft gasp from her earned it entrance into her mouth. It slid along every inch of her moist cavern, before dipping to slide against her smaller one.

Her servos dug into my shoulders, and her hips subconsciously bucked forward, grinding our covered apexes together. I stifled a groan as the movement sent pleasant tingles shooting up from my array, tilting her helm back so that I could get a better angle.

A soft whimper escaped from her, vibrating her frame as her glossa slowly started sliding against mine. The sound was so different than the loud screeches of other femmes I had been with, that it was incredibly arousing. My spike was already out and straining against my sodpiece!

What was with this femme and her way of bringing back my carnal desires so strongly? More like what was with me not throwing her down as soon as I felt it, and attempting to take what I wanted? Normally I would have without a second thought.

Even now I wanted to, but instead I just kissed her until her cooling system kicked on loudly. Only then did I pull away to give her some time to calm down.

She panted. "S-So does this... mean you aren't breaking up with me?"

"I'm not breaking up with you."

A small smile tugged at the edges of her lips. "Ok."

"But I would still like to know what exactly happened yesterday."

And just like that her smile was gone.

"I have a right to know Athena."

She pulled herself off my lap and sat beside me on the couch. "I don't like to fight."

I raised an optic ridge at her in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Her door wings suddenly drooped down. "Because it makes me an easy target for anybot having a bad day..."

"Are you trying to say that they target you just because you won't fight back?" Because that made perfect sense to me...

"Yes I am. That's the only reason they single me out, because I don't fight back."

"Why don't you?"

She looked down shamefully. "I just... It's embarrassing to admit, but physical confrontations i-intimidate me... I just... It's always been like that! During the war I was a top sharpshooter, but whenever it came to an up close fight I always lost my nerve... And even after... that habit has stayed with me... I can't seem to shake it off."

I thought about it for a moment. "Do you know how to fight at all?"

"I was trained in all forms of combat, it's just that whenever it comes time to use what I know... I freeze up..."

Well that must be a pain in the aft... "Is there a reason?"

"I've always been like this..."

I rubbed the space between her door wings gently. "Well why don't you inform one of the higher ups that those mechs are assaulting you? They'd do something about it."

Primus knew that Prowl didn't tolerate any sort of fighting on base... Hence the reason that Sides and I had ended up in the brig on a daily basis because of my twin's pranking hobby, and my habit of getting into fights whenever somebot so much as scuffed my paint.

"No."

"Well if you're not going to fight back and you won't say something to one of them, what are you going to do?"

"Nothing."

I scowled at her. "You can't do nothing!"

"Sunstreaker please let it go."

"No. If you won't do something about it then I will! If one of them so much as looks at you wrong I'll beat their helms in!"

She gaped at me. "You can't do that!"

I grunted. "Yes I can, and I will too. I already warned that mech that if he touches you again it's his aft. I always keep my word too femme."

"Sunstreaker you could get in trouble for that!"

"Not if we don't tell anybot."

"But Scourge will-!"

I cut her off. "Scourge huh? Well at least now I know his designation so keeping an optic on him will be easier. That and if he's any sort of mech he'll never go whining to a superior officer about getting his aft beaten. Then everybot would know how weak and pathetic he really is."

She didn't look like she knew what to say.

Which was probably a good thing because I'd already decided what to do. "You better come tell me if he even shutters an optic near you."

Her mouth opened and closed but no words came out...

Good... Arguing wouldn't get her anywhere with me! I'd already decided that if that mech tried anything else he was as good as dead.

Nobot messed with my femme!

* * *

R&R!


	9. Chapter 9: Selling Girl Scout Cookies?

Sunny and Athena are going to be moving pretty fast from here! It's still gonna be a few before Sides even knows she exists! I'm still thinking about what his reaction is going to be like! Anyways I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

Sunny was acting weird lately.

Like more so than normal.

He spent a lot of time away from home, and when he did come home he looked like I did after I just got done fragging some femme. Which meant I was pretty sure he was fragging some femme. If that was the case he was fragging without me! That just was not cool! We always fragged together... well we took turns with our partners.

That or... he had turned to fragging mechs or something and he didn't want me to know about it!

Or he was helping ex Decepticons break out of prison!

I had to comm Prowl just to make sure!

 **:Prowl!:**

 **:Sideswipe I'm busy. What do you want?:**

 **:Have any former Decepticons broken out of Prison?:**

 **:No why? Why would you even think to ask that?:**

 **:Because I think Sunny's breaking them out!:**

 **:Wait... what? Why would your twin, who is renowned for beating the scrap out of Decepticons, break said Decepticons out?:**

 **:Sunny's been acting like he's getting fragged lately!:**

 **:Doesn't that mean that he most likely is getting fragged? How is that a bad thing?:**

 **:But he's doing it without me! He comes home every night looking like he just got some!:**

 **:Don't you always come into work looking like that?:**

 **:Yeah but it's different! He's fragging them without me!:**

 **:I don't need to know about your frag life Sideswipe!:**

 **:Oh that reminds me... How is your interface life with Jazz going?:**

 **:We are not bonded or seeing each other Sides. I'm going to hang up now.:**

 **:Wait! Sunny's doing commissions for somebot!:**

 **:Pffffffffffffft! WHAT?!:**

 **:Wait... did you just spit everywhere?:**

 **:Yea he did... all over meh.:** Jazz grumbled.

 **:Oh hey Jazz! How is your interface life going?:**

 **:Don' ask meh dat Sides. Now wha' are ya sayin' abou' commissions? Who's doin' em?:**

 **:Sunny is!:**

 **:Pffffffffffffffffffffffft! What?!:**

 **:Thank you for making him spit all over me Sideswipe!:**

 **:You're welcome Prowl. Now can you assure me that Sunny is not breaking Decepticons out of Prison?:**

 **:No Sideswipe. Have more faith in your twin.:**

 **:Bue he's keeping something from me and I want to know what it is!:**

 **:Then maybe you should confront him about it. Instead of bugging me.:**

 **:Every time I do he just brushes me off.:**

 **:That's normal for him.:**

Jazz piped in next. **:Maybay he's jus' not ready for ya to kno' wha's goin' on yet? Give 'im some tahme.:**

 **:Easier said than done...:**

 **:Sideswipe I have to go now. Do not bother Jazz or I with anymore conspiracy theories today.:**

 **:BUT HE MIGHT BE SELLING GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!:** I yelled before they finally cut the comm link. Frag! Why did nobot ever agree with my theories? They weren't that weird or unlikely to happen...

Ok so maybe they were unlikely to happen and I was overreacting... Time to do something to relax myself... Like play some COV and invite Storm over afterwards.

Maybe I can hit on that hot gamer femme again too...

Then after Sunny got home I could push him for more details about what he's been doing!

Sounds like a plan.

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I was standing outside of Athena's door after just getting off of a long patrol shift. But as I walked in through the door the last thing I expected was to hear her yelling.

"Stop camping the corner you fragging afthole! Just because you can't beat me any other way doesn't mean that you have to be a try-hard!"

Rounding the section of wall that connected the entryway from the living room, my optics landed on my femmefriend sitting on the couch with a game controller in her small servos. She was scowling at the TV, which had some game on it.

I recognized it as COV, which surprised me. Athena played that game? Never would've guessed.

"YOU JERK! I'M GOING TO START SHOOTING YOU IN THE BACK IF YOU DON'T CUT IT OUT!"

 _ **"Turnabout is fair play Princess. Don't be such a spoil sport just because I killed you more than you killed me!"**_

"Stop calling me Princess!"

 _ **"I don't know what else to call you Princess. Maybe if you'd tell me your designation I'll call you by that... Princess."**_

Athena clutched her controller and glared at the TV. "It's none of your business!"

 _ **"I wouldn't mind making it my business! C'mon Princess... give me your comm frequency!"**_

"No! I'm not going to give you my comm frequency you aft! So stop asking me already! And stop spamming my inbox with messages asking for it!"

My optics narrowed when the mech she was talking to started making more passes at her, a growl slipping free from my vocalizer before I could stop it. The sound catching her attention, drawing those bright blue optics my way as I stomped forward and tried snatching the controller from her.

She quickly hit the mute button and hid the controller behind her back. "Sunstreaker!"

"Give me the controller!"

"No!"

I reached for it again and she leapt up and skirted around the table. "Did you even tell him you have a mechfriend?"

"Yes but he doesn't believe me!"

I got up and stalked her around the living room. "Then give me the controller and I'll show him that you're not lying." Nobot got to hit on her and get away with it! She was mine!

"No that's ok. He's just some stupid mech that I'll never meet anyways! There's no need to get so enraged about it!"

"You're mine! No mech is going to get away with hitting on you!"

A deep sapphire colored blush crept up to her cheeks. "S-Sunstreaker! S-Since when were you so possessive?"

I smirked as I finally got her backed into a corner. "It's just the way I am so get used to it."

She squeaked as I closed in and pressed my lips against hers gently... Distracting her so that I could sneak my servo around behind her and snatch the controller from her. "Sunstreaker! Give that back!" She gasped when I pulled away and plopped my aft down on the couch.

The first thing I did was pull up her inbox, find the latest message from her cyber stalker... "No." And then I started typing a message to send him.

 _ **:Hey mech! You know the femme you've been stalking on here? Well this is her mechfriend, and I'm telling you to back off right now! If you don't I will trace your coordinates and come rip your fragging spike off!:**_

Her lithe form was suddenly in my lap trying to wrestle the controller away from me. "Sunstreaker don't you dare say that!"

I held it out of her reach and continued typing. _**:Go find some other femme to cyber-stalk! My femme doesn't need or want any other mech's puny spike when she has mine! So frag off!:**_

With that I sat the controller down on the table after shutting the system off. "Now he shouldn't bother you anymore."

She was gaping at me in mortification. "I-I can't believe you said that!"

"As long as you're with me that means you are mine. No other mech is going to get away with encroaching on what's mine."

"Y-You r-really are possessive..."

"Only with things that I don't want to share." I purred at her, causing yet another surge of energon to rush to her cheeks and stain them blue. As much as I would never admit it to anybot else, she looked seriously cute when she blushed. And I would **NEVER** admit it to anybot! Ever!

But she did put herself in the perfect position for me to take advantage of...

She seemed to notice it too, but before she could scramble off my lap my arms clamped around her waist. "Going somewhere?"

"I-I was p-planning on it..."

"Mm no, I don't think so. I think you're in a good spot where you are now."

With that I cupped the back of her helm and brought her lips up to meet my hungry ones. Hers hesitantly yielded, pressing back against mine timidly as I flicked my glossa out over her bottom lip. She was always so uncertain, so hesitant to do more that I wanted to show her how. As soon as the thought even occurred I moved my lips against hers faster, while I rubbed circles on her lower back to coax her into loosening up a bit.

She tensed, and it took her a klik or so to become a little more firm with her attentions.

Those soft lips molding to mine with a little more vigor.

I flicked my glossa over her lip again, then pushed it into her mouth roughly, seeking out her glossa and tangling it with hers. Her servos clutched at my shoulders as a soft whimper escaped her, in turn making me tighten my hold so that our frames came flush together. It was like some sort of primal urge overwhelmed me, because I found myself between her legs, pinning her on the couch in an astrosecond.

She gasped as our apexes shifted against each other from my unexpected move. "S-Sunstreaker?!"

I rocked against her with a deep rumbling purr. "Yes?"

"I'm... not sure that this is o-ok."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I just want to be sure..."

My optic ridges furrowed with my confusion. "Sure of what?"

"That you won't just leave me after."

I sat up on my knees. "What?"

She sat up too. "N-Never mind..."

She was afraid that I would frag her and leave her? What part of, _**'If I wanted a frag partner I could have had one every night since we met'**_ did she not understand? If that was what this was all about I would have just given up and moved on to an easier prospect by now. Instead of sticking around a femme that wasn't putting anything out, just for the fact that I actually found that I felt something for her. That in and of itself was a weird prospect. I never liked a femme for anything other than her valve.

I'd met many shy femmes, but none who were as timid and skittish as Athena. Everything I did had to be questioned for the sake of her sanity. Like every move was some part of a complicated puzzle, and not instinctive as it should be.

"Why would you think that Athena?"

She didn't say anything.

Which made me irritated. "Athena? Answer the question."

Her frame tensed, before she brought her servo up and started chewing on her digit nervously. It wasn't something that I'd seen her do before. "It's j-just that I... I-I've been in this situation before... and i-it didn't end well..."

"I told you that I wasn't going to use you for interface." I pointed out.

"I know."

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

She looked down at her lap shamefully. "Because... you're the first mech that's ever made me feel like I'm worth more than just another frag. I just... d-don't want to feel like that again..."

"I've told you before that I wasn't doing this for a frag."

"I know..."

Why did looking at her while she sat there looking even more insecure than she normally did, make me want to tred more carefully? Normally I'd just say something to placate a femme, then I'd go back to trying to take what I wanted from her. But in this situation I didn't do anything I normally would have.

I didn't want to pressure her.

I didn't want to take her unless she wanted to be taken.

What was wrong with me lately?

Why did I just pull back and lean against the back of the couch instead of pressing my sodpiece into the apex between those toned little legs? Nothing about how I handled her was anything reminiscent of how I had dealt with any femme before. I was being... considerate of her needs...

Instead of caring more about my own wants.

I sighed and slouched forward with my servos cupping my face. "What's wrong with me?"

"Sunstreaker?"

"What?"

Something touched my upper arm. "A-Are you okay?"

And now she was worried about me? How did we go from me telling her how it was, to her being worried about me? I rubbed my face tiredly, before looking up at her. "I'm fine Athena... I'm just trying to sort my thoughts out."

She inadvertently pressed herself flush against my arm. "I didn't mean to make you angry."

"You didn't. I'm not mad at you." Which was true. I wasn't mad at her for being different from other femmes. I just didn't know how to sort what I was feeling for her out. It wasn't something I'd ever felt before. Something that I had to keep reminding myself of.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. How many times do I have to tell you that I don't lie to spare somebot's feelings?" I lifted my arm and allowed her the option of pressing herself closer to me if she wanted to.

She cocked her helm at me like her little stream glider did when I glared at it.

I sighed. "You know how you like to cuddle your stream glider?"

"Yes."

"This is the same thing... You come closer and I wrap an arm around you."

"Oh... and you want me to?"

One of my optic ridges lifted as if to say, _**'Would I have mentioned it otherwise?'**_

She finally crawled in next to me, allowing me to wrap my arm around her shoulder as she in turn rested her helm against my chassis.

Holding her felt better than I ever expected it to. She wasn't clingy or screechy. She didn't carry on about things incessantly. Instead she just sat there, pressed against me quietly. For once I didn't feel the need to throw a femme down and kiss her senseless just to get her to shut up. And I didn't want to just bury my spike inside her to give her something worth screeching about. I felt good just sitting here... cuddling...

My spark pulsed against the confines of its' casing, making me feel an uncharacteristic sensation of contentment.

Whatever this femme was doing to me, I was sure that I didn't dislike it.

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I stood in my studio, staring at the painting of the crystal garden that I had been working on for a quartex or so. It was still a ways off from being finished, but when it was I was planning on giving it to Sunstreaker.

He made a deal, he'd paint me if I painted something for him. For some reason that made me think of the day at the garden when he had first proclaimed that I was his. That was why I ended up painting it.

The vivid multifaceted colors shining in a myriad of different shades, caught in what I hoped was just the perfect way on the canvas.

It would take me some time to finish it... But I didn't have time to put anymore work into it right now. I was going to go to the cafe to refuel before work, then I needed to pick some things up from the art store, and in a joor or so I was scheduled for a long shift in the med bay.

Wonder if Sunstreaker had a shift today?

I locked my studio and made my way out the front door, calling out before it closed behind me. "You behave until I get back Sparky!"

It took me an astrosecond to lock my door, before I turned and nearly ran smack into a broad gold chassis. I stumbled back, falling against the wall as my chassis heaved from surprise.

Sunstreaker stood staring down at me from his towering height. "Going somewhere?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself before standing upright again. "I have a shift in the med bay a joor from now."

"Why are you leaving so early then?"

"I need to go pick some things up from the art store, and afterwards I'm going to refuel at the cafe." I actually spoke the entire sentence without stuttering for once which was a rarity! "What about you?"

"Got patrol in a joor. Figured I'd stop by before since my brother's passed out in the berth after drinking himself stupid last night."

A small laugh bubbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. "Your brother must be quite the character."

"You couldn't be any closer to the truth."

We both stood staring at each other until I started feeling awkward. "S-So you just came just to see me before work?" I stammered. So much for speaking in a clear confident voice. That died out real quick!

"Yeah. I wanted to see you."

My spark started pulsating in my chassis. He just wanted to see me?

"So since I came to see you, and you need to take care of some things, why don't I tag along? I need to refuel too anyways, and I've been meaning to stock up on some new paintbrushes."

"S-Sure!"

"Alright. C'mon then."

Together we made our way out of my apartment building and onto the street in silence. I did find myself staring at his servo as we walked and fighting off the urge to slip mine into it. As usual I didn't have the courage to just take it. Instead I felt my door wings slump as I looked forward and pretended that I didn't want to hold his servo.

He must have noticed. "What's wrong?"

I folded my arms behind my back. "Nothing."

His optics drifted behind me, where I was twiddling my digits together nervously. "Athena..."

How did he always know when I wasn't telling the truth?

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, which prompted me to stop too. "Why are you doing that?"

"I j-just... wanted to hold your servo... but I guess I thought y-you wouldn't like that."

He rolled his optics. "Just do it."

My helm shot up. "What?"

"Just do it."

I stood there staring at him for a moment, until he held his large black padded servo out for me to take. After thinking about what I was going to do for another klik, I hesitantly slid my palm into his, and he curled his digits over the back of my servo.

"See? It's easy. Now let's go." With that he turned and tugged me down the sidewalk.

When we made it to Canvas Paradise he led me towards the back of the store, right passed the counter where a young mech was working. All without ever letting go of my servo.

We stopped to grab his paintbrushes, then he turned towards me expectantly. "What do you need to get?"

"I need some purple paint. What I have isn't the right shade for what I'm working on. It's too dark."

"So you need a middle shade or light?"

"Light."

He turned towards the shelves and muttered to himself. "Like lavender..."

Lavender? What was a lavender? "What's lavender?"

His optics shot back towards my face. "Uh, it was the name of a shade of purple on Earth."

Oh right... Opi had told me about Earth before, even going so far as to describe the indigenous lifeforms that had called it home. He often spoke of how they were much like our kind, even if they did have fleshy armor called skin, and dead wires hanging from their helms. I'd seen what they looked like from his memories... they were small and pink! Well some were black, and others were even brown... I believe he said they were different ethnicities, like the difference between a bot from Polyhex, and somewhere like Vos. Or something like that! But I'd never heard about how they referred to their colors. "Oh..."

"I was just thinking out loud. But what do you think of this shade?"

It was actually quite nice. "I think it'll work. I also need something that's a few shades darker..." My optics scanned over the sample cards until they landed on something a few shades darker. "This might work. Do they have a name for it on Earth?"

"Violet."

I picked out a few cans of both. "Those are strange names."

He shrugged and led me back towards the front of the store. "Earth is a strange place."

We quickly checked out, before heading to the cafe where the two of us took a seat at our normal booth. "What's it like?"

"It's an organic planet."

"I've never been to an organic planet before."

"I hated it at first... Well I did until we finally left. Organic matter is disgusting! The ground was made up of this scrap called dirt, which would get all over my finish and make me filthy. If that wasn't bad enough, liquid would fall from the sky and turn the dirt into this gunk called mud, and when I drove over that it would splash all over me! It was worse than the dirt!"

I listened to him rant on about the bad points of an organic planet. It did sound different. "What about the humans? What were they like?"

He groaned. "Oily. If they touched your armor it would get smudged... Sides used to goad them into smearing their grimy little hands all over me!"

"Who is Sides?"

"My brother."

A waitress came over to take our orders at that moment. "What can I get you two?"

"Sweet energon please."

"Spiced energon."

"I'll have it out in a few kliks." She turned and walked back into the prep area.

I turned back towards Sunstreaker. "So your brother's designation is Sides?"

"That's just what everybot calls him."

"What's he like?"

"He's a live wire, always pulling pranks or something. But he gets along with everybot unlike me."

"You get along with me."

He snorted. "Athena if bots would give you a chance they'd all get along with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

His arm closed around my shoulder, pulling me against him. "It means that you're a really likable bot."

Didn't that just bring me up short? Me? A likable bot? Nobot even noticed me when I was in the same room as them! As far as I was concerned being a likable bot meant that somebot actually liked me! Well maybe that was taking it too far... Cee and her sisters liked me, and my creators, and Uncle Ratchet...

But that was kind of different.

"I'm not really that likable Sunstreaker."

"I like you and I don't like anybot really, besides my brother. That should tell you something."

"Just because one bot likes me doesn't mean that I'm likable. It just means that somebot had to and you were unlucky enough to find my personality appealing." I pointed out ruefully.

He just shrugged. "Whatever helps you recharge at night."

"I still can't tell if you're insulting me or not sometimes."

"It was meant to be a compliment femme."

Amusement flowed through me. "Well maybe I don't feel complimented."

He just stared at me oddly. "Are you trying to joke right now?"

I actually smirked at him. "Maybe..."

His lips tilted up at the sides. "I didn't know that you had a sense of humor."

"Well I do."

"I would never have guessed."

"Well now you know."

Joking with him felt nice...

We spent close to a joor splitting our time between refueling, exploring my sudden sense of humor, and talking about our art, or his brother. We ended up being so immersed that we were almost late for shift.

Good thing I checked my chronometer in time for us to make it to base in time...

Time really did fly when I was with him.

* * *

R&R!


	10. Chapter 10: Femme's Night Out!

I wasn't going to update so soon since there were only 2 reviews for the last chapter, but I wanted to thank himelove22 for some awesome fan art of Sunny and Athena so I decided to update early! If you want to see the pictures she did you can find them on my Deviantart page Lunarburst23! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Ouch...

My helm really hurt...

How many times had Uncle Ratchet belted me with his wrench? Too many to count...

It wasn't my fault that I kept getting distracted with thoughts about Sunstreaker. He was a hard mech to keep off my processor lately. I found myself thinking about how his walls fell down a little when we were together... How he looked when he smirked, or how the sound of his quiet chuckle made my spark pulse in my chassis...

If only I could think of those rare moments when I wasn't working...

Because getting distracted was bad for my health... Really bad... And now my helm hurt because of it...

"Athena!" Uncle Ratchet bellowed angrily... again!

I whipped around with a squeak. "Y-Yes?!"

He was holding a wrench in one servo and the other was pointing at a supply crate. "I asked you to sort and put this away a joor ago!"

"Sorry! I'll do it right now!"

He grunted at me as I scurried over and hefted the crate onto the counter. "What is wrong with you lately femme? Every time I turn around you're sitting in that corner with your helm in the clouds! What happened to the competent medic that I trained?!"

I stumbled due to the hurt those words engineered.

Uncle Ratchet never spoke to me like that...

My door wings slumped as I turned my helm towards him dejectedly. "Sorry Uncle Ratchet... I just have a lot on my processor lately."

"I've noticed." He sighed, before putting his wrench into his subspace and sitting on his stool. "Do you want to try talking about whatever is distracting you? Are you having any problems that you don't feel like you can talk to your creators about?"

Yes... Well not a problem but...

Just a case of a wildly pulsating spark...

And a mech who was always in my thoughts...

If I told Uncle Ratchet that though... he'd flip out and tell Opi and Danni, and then they'd mount a search party to find the mystery mech... And Jazz would find out who it was within a cycle, and then Sunstreaker would be incarcerated for life! Or Cee, Flareup, and Mia would have a field day filled with shooting ion cannons at him!

Danni would threaten him.

Opi would lecture him...

No! Anything but that!

Have to think of something plausible!

"I well... Sparky has seemed really lonely lately, so I've been thinking about getting him a friend. But I wasn't sure whether to get a mech or a femme companion for him."

 **BAM!** A wrench collided with my helm yet again.

"OW!"

"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU'RE SLACKING OFF ON YOUR WORK BECAUSE OF YOUR STREAM GLIDER?!"

I winced.. Oh no...

"YOU ARE A MEDIC ATHENA! I TRAINED YOU TO KNOW BETTER THAN TO ALLOW DISTRACTIONS TO FOLLOW YOU INTO THE MED BAY!"

"I know..."

"OBVIOUSLY YOU DON'T! IF SOMEBOT WERE TO COME IN HERE IN CRITICAL CONDITION YOU CAN'T AFFORD EVEN A SMALL DISTRACTION OTHERWISE THEY COULD DIE! YOU HAVE TO BE LEVEL-HELMED WHEN DEALING WITH THE SITUATIONS THAT ARISE WITHI THESE WALLS!"

"I know!"

He finally calmed down a bit. "No more. When you're here work is the only thing that you're allowed to think about. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Uncle."

A servo landed on my helm, making me look up at his now much more somber expression. "I don't like yelling at you Athena, but you have to learn to juggle work and your personal life separately. Normally you're very good at this, but lately it seems like you're always distracted."

Because of Sunstreaker...

"I'm sorry..."

"Just focus when you're working." With an affectionate rub between my chevron, he let go and wandered over to the counter to finish whatever he was working on. "When you're finished with that you can go. Your shift was over a breem ago."

"Ok."

With that I quickly sorted out the contents of the crate out and put everything in its designated place in a timely manner. "I'm going now Uncle."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you the day after tomorrow."

I smiled at him softly, before I made my way out into the corridor. Only to freeze in my spot when my optics landed on Cee and her older sister Flareup leaning against the wall expectantly. This only happened when they wanted to grill me over something, or Flareup wanted to do a femmes night out!

Anything but those things! Please!

"Athena..." Flareup sang deviously.

No!

"Athena..." Cee joined in obnoxiously.

ANYTHING BUT THAT!

"FEMMES NIGHT OUT!" Both screamed at the same time.

"NOOOOO!" I screeched as they grabbed my arms and dragged me towards the entrance of the base.

"Oh stop fighting Athena! We only have a few groons until the clubs open! So we have to get ready fast!" Flareup chastised me.

"I don't want to go!"

"Too bad! Cee and I spent a few days planning this and you are going to come along quietly, and not be allowed to go home until you've had a good time."

"I'll have a good time at home! Where I won't drink myself stupid!" I argued as we neared their apartment building.

Neither listened to me as they dragged me up four flights in the elevator, and then down the hall and into their unit. Where I was shoved into the wash racks, washed down thoroughly, dried off, then polished and painted to a shine.

They put a light shade of gold paint over my optics, tinged with red liner for more effect.

WHY?! WHYYYYY?!

Together they spent another few breems polishing every part of me until I was gleaming, down to my ped heels even. Cee even took some turtle wax and applied a thin coat from my chevron down to my peds.

After finishing up they stepped back to admire their work. "There!"

"You look gorgeous!" Cee gushed.

"More like drop dead gorgeous! Mechs are gonna eat you up! Can we say bombshell?!" Flareup grinned ddeviously.

I looked like one of those femme pinup models! But without the frame of one! Why?! "Please don't try to set me up with some mech!"

Sunstreaker would maul them to death! Or he'd be angry at me for having anything to do with it in the first place! What if he even broke up with me over it?! I didn't want that! I still had to give him the painting I was working on like we agreed! Otherwise it'd go to waste!

Flareup held up a servo to silence me. "Femme you need to get laid. All you do is work, paint, work, paint, work, play video games..."

My jaw dropped. "No I do not! I am not hooking up with some mech at a nightclub!" The thought of doing that was disgusting! I only wanted to hook up with a mech I cared about! And only after he proved that he wasn't like every other mech I'd ever met!

"We'll see about that..."

Cee smacked her. "She doesn't have to act like you Flare!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that even though I'm your sister and I love you, you're way too quick to jump into a mech's berth! You'll frag any mech that moves!"

"I will not!"

We both stared at her in disbelief.

She slumped. "Only if they're super hot..."

"And there are a lot of super hot mechs around now that the war's over." Cee pointed out smugly.

"Meaning that you're getting faced a lot lately." I added quietly. Interface discussions were an awkward subject for me to be involved in. I wasn't untried, but I wasn't exactly privy to how normal mechs and femmes interacted when both parties wanted to interface.

The only experience I had in normal relations was with Sunstreaker and we hadn't interfaced or been intimate at all really. Well not outside of kissing or... making out which had happened once or twice. He hadn't pushed me for more since the one time on my couch.

I was woefully unprepared to initiate anything...

I didn't even know if I could properly react to anything either.

Because I wasn't like everybot else...

With a firm shake of my helm I forced the thoughts away and focused back on the conversation. Now Cee was helping Flareup get ready since she technically liked to look the best, so she took the longest to doll up. "I just don't see what's wrong with enjoying a nice frag every now and then."

"There's nothing wrong with it." Cee admitted.

"But how are you going to find a mech that wants more than just a quick frag, if you always give them that and send them on their way?"

Both looked at me in surprise. "I never thought about it like that..."

"You should have."

"Well I'm not as smart as you Athena! You're like the biggest walking processor besides Prowl!"

I frowned at her. "Am not."

She stuck her glossa out at me. "Are too!"

Cee just sighed and finished polishing her sister. "There! You look stunning enough to score tonight!"

Flareup looked herself over in the mirror. "Frag yeah! I look good enough to get all of us drunk and laid!"

Oh Primus no... "I am not getting laid."

"Me either... Unless I decide that I feel like it."

"You'll end up feeling the call of love Cee! You always do!"

"No. Not really." Cee grumbled as Flareup took the rag from her and started buffing her armor.

"You will... Now all we need to do is get Athena laid."

"No."

Cee giggled at Flareup's disgruntled expression. "Give it up Flareup! Athena isn't the type to hop into some mech's berth! Don't put that kind of pressure on her!"

Yes please don't do that to me... I didn't even know how to explain that scenario to anybot, let alone cope with it myself... Let alone dealing with my mechfriend when he found out... He was rather possessive after all, as I was already well aware of...

I must have been really deep in though, because the next time I actually thought to pay attention was after Flareup grabbed me and dragged me back out of the apartment.

Forcing me to have to almost run to keep up with her. "Isn't there anything else that we can do instead of going clubbing?"

"Aww c'mon Athena! That new club Heat Wave just opened up downtown! I've been wanting to go for days not but I waited for you two to have a day off!"

"Heat Wave...? What kind of name is that?"

She smirked at me. "One that embodies everything that's hot."

Oh Primus... Something told me that I was not going to enjoy this... What could have possibly clued me into how bad this night was going to be? Flareup insisting that I needed to get faced?

The big bulding that she was leading us up to? Which was booming with the bass from the stereo system. Oh Primus... my audios were going to explode... I better turn down the sensitivity on the sensors on my door wings, even if they weren't up to par with most Praxians, they'd still throb tomorrow from the sheer volume of that bass...

We ended up waiting in line with a bunch of bots milling around us, bumping into me, or Cee and Flareup. Some mechs winked at them while we waited, prompting Flareup to wave at a few of them in a flirty manner.

Why Flareup?! Why?!

And it only got worse after we got inside!

Mechs and femmes were all over the dance floor, grinding against each other, drinking at the bar, making out in the corners, and some were even taking it farther than that. Eww...

Flareup steered us over to the bar where a tall copper colored mech was mixing up drinks. He looked up at us when we walked, or more like when Cee and I were dragged up to the bar. "Hello femmes..."

"Hello mech..." Flareup purred. "We'd like a dozen of your best high grade shots to start off with."

My optics bugged out and I gaped at her. A DOZEN?! HOW DRUNK DID SHE PLAN ON GETTNIG US?! SHE KNEW THAT ONCE I STARTED DRINKING I LITERALLY DIDN'T STOP UNLESS SOMEBOT MADE ME!

"Anything for you three fine looking femmes." He grinned flirtatiously, before he turned and started pouring high grade into little shot cubes.

How did I end up here again? How?! Seriously!

I was standing at a bar, watching Flareup flirt with the bartender, while Cee was flirting with some other mech who I didn't care about, leaving me to just stand here! Why didn't I just run when I had the chance? Now there was no escape!

Something bumped into me, nearly sending me sprawling out face first on the floor. I managed to catch myself and spin around to see what had hit me, optics landing on a tall silver Iaconian mech standing right in front of me with a servo raised as if to catch me.

He opened his mouth and spoke in a deep, rumbling timbre. "Are you okay?"

"Yes! Yes I'm fine!" Somebot get me out of this place!

My answer seemed to make him relieved. "Oh good! I was worried that I hurt you somehow!"

"No. N-No I'm f-fine!"

"Good! So uh, do you come here often?"

I blinked at him. "No..."

"I figured! I come here a lot since it opened and I've never seen you!"

Was that a compliment or an insult? "O-Oh..."

"You wanna dance or something?"

Dance?

Flareup suddenly popped up over my shoulder. "Oooh Athena hottie is hitting on you! Don't let him go to waste!"

"He's not hitting on me Flareup."

"Yeah he is femme."

He nodded at me when I looked up at him in question. "Yeah. You're really hot."

My cheeks heated up to insane levels! Me hot? No way! "U-Um... I c-can't! S-Sorry!"

"Oh well." With that he turned and melded back into the crowd.

"Thank Primus..."

"Athena! He was fragging hot! Why the pit did you turn him away?!"

"Because I'm not here to pick up mechs Flareup. You made me come!" That and I wasn't going to be unfaithful to Sunstreaker! I hated it when bots cheated and I wasn't going to do it myself!

She pulled me over to a table near the dance floor. "You really need to loosen up and have fun!"

"How can I do that when places like this drive me crazy?"

She grinned as a tray of high grade shots were placed in front of us. "Let me show you how..."

PRIMUS HELP ME!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Where the frag was Athena? I hadn't been able to find her all fragging day! She wouldn't answer my comm link messages, or my calls! She wasn't at her apartment! She wasn't working late in the med bay, because I had poked my helm in and checked and Jolt was the only one there!

Now I was waiting outside her door for her to return from wherever she had gone, when I should be getting ready to go home and get some recharge! When I saw her we were going to have a talk about her wandering off to who knows where!

I growled as I leaned against the wall outside her door. Waiting. Waiting...

For almost a joor I waited for some sign of her.

What I was not expecting was to hear something hit the wall down the corridor.

I looked to the left an astrosecond or so after it had occurred, and was surprised to see Athena come stumbling around the corner, tripping and bumping into the wall as she made her way towards me.

Was she... over charged?

Her cheeks were flushed, optics glassy, and even from here I could clearly see her swaying back and forth.

"Athena?"

Her optics snapped up to my face and she smiled widely at me. "Sunstreaker!"

Yup she was over charged... I got that when she ran at me and tripped face first onto the floor just short of reaching me. "How much did you drink femme?"

She looked up at me. "I... don't... d-drink!"

I helped her up. "Yeah and I'm not gold."

She gasped. "Then what color are you?"

Primus she was overcharged... "I was being sarcastic Athena."

"Call me Athe!" She declared out of nowhere.

"Athe? Why?"

"I made you say it!" She giggled.

Real clever... Seriously. "Let's get you into your apartment before you do something stupid."

Getting her into said apartment was the easy part, controlling her after she got in was the difficult task. Because over charged Athena was a hyper Athena, literally as soon as we got in the door she took off running into the living area.

Only to trip over a table and fall face first onto the floor again. "OWIE!"

"Primus... she's as bad as Sides is." I grumbled as I stomped passed the entryway.

Somehow in the time it had taken me to catch up she had knocked her table over, and was now rolling around her living room while giggling madly. "Flareup took me clubbing Sunstreaker! We drank high grade!"

"Flareup took you out?" I asked in surprise. Athena actually knew Flareup?

"We had a drinking competition and I beat Cee, but Flareup cheated and got us kicked out of the club before I could beat her!"

And Arcee? Chances are she knew Chromia too then, and possibly Ironhide. Well if Flareup and Arcee took her out who knows where they had ended up, or what they had done.

A weight settled itself against my chassis, snapping me out of my internal musings. Somehow Athena had gotten up and was now leaning against my chassis, all without me even noticing that she wasn't on the floor anymore. "Athena?"

She looked up at me with smoldering optics.

Wasn't that look familiar, but not one that I expected to see on her face? Lust.

Over charged Athena was a lustful Athena...

Normally I wouldn't hesitate when a femme was over charged, even if I wasn't. But when she leaned up and plastered her lips against mine I didn't just toss her on the nearest surface like I normally would have.

Instead I hesitated again. I kissed her back, but I didn't just let go of my control and take her like I could have.

Why was I hesitating? Obviously she wanted it right now.

My frame wanted it right now.

But my spark just wasn't in it.

I didn't want to just screw her to sate all my carnal desires.

Not if she wouldn't even remember it tomorrow. What would that prove to her? That I was the mech she was afraid I was? I didn't want to do that to her... Not to Athena, because she was different. She was made up of so many of the things I had never realized I wanted.

I wasn't going to screw her just because I could.

For that reason I gently pushed her back. "You don't really want to do this right now Athena."

She nodded quickly. "Yes. Yes I do..."

"No you don't. We haven't even been together that long."

"So? If I want it, and you want it, why does it matter?"

"Because you don't really want it Athena. It's just the high grade talking."

In a sudden move she tore herself away from me and turned her back towards me, door wings slumping down dejectedly. "It's because my chassis is small isn't it?"

"No! For Primus sake femme! How many times do I have to tell you it isn't small, or that I don't care if it isn't huge?!"

"All mechs care about the size of a femme's chassis!"

I rubbed the sides of my helm tiredly. "Athena we already settled this discussion a while ago. I don't care about any of that."

She whirled back around angrily. "Then why won't you frag me?!"

"Because you're over charged!"

"Why does that even matter?!"

"Because it's the same as taking advantage of you! I don't want to do that!"

She froze, door wings shooting up to broadcast her surprise. "What?"

I huffed angrily. "I don't want to take advantage of you."

It looked like she didn't know how to react to that. So she just backed up until she fell onto her couch, helm cupped in her servos and door wings tense. "I'm sorry Sunstreaker."

"What do you have to be sorry about?"

She looked up at me with coolant pooling in her optics. "I just... I was frustrated with Flareup earlier because she keeps getting after me for not getting fragged more often,"

My optic ridges shot up. What?

"and then she forced me to go to that stupid nightclub and get over charged."

So that's what happened... Figures...

"And then mechs were hitting on me all night, and she kept trying to persuade me to loosen up a little bit and just screw one of them."

"WHAT?!"

"Then I kept thinking of you and I just had no interest in doing that. But the thing is that I couldn't tell her about you because I didn't know if you were ok with that, and I'm a horrible liar so they would have found out who you were. And then the whole base would know we're together by the time first shift starts tomorrow!"

"Athena hold on a klik!"

She froze, mouth open to continue sputtering incessantly.

"Just answer this question for me; Did anything happen between you and a mech tonight?" Because if something did happen I was going to hunt Flareup down myself and cuss her out so badly that her audios would never recover!

"No. Why?"

"Because you're mine and that means only I can touch you!"

And I was slowly losing my fragging processor because of this femme! It was like one of those cheesy romance movies that Sides and I had seen on Earth; where the main character fell peds over helm in love with somebot else! Hold on an astrosecond... Did I just use the word love when thinking about Athena? I didn't love her! No! There was no way that I loved her! It was way too soon for that!

No! There was no way and that was all there was to it! I would ignore the way my spark pulsed at the thought, sending unexpected waves of pleasure through me.

Athena just gaped at me after my declaration of what was only fact, a deep sapphire blush straining her cheeks.

I shook my helm to clear it before sitting down next to her. But I didn't know what to say right now really. I'd admitted that I felt something for her, but I still wasn't sure of what. And I refused to believe that I was in love with her so soon. It just wasn't possible!

"You know... I would rather have spent my evening with you." She admitted quietly.

My optics drifted up until they locked with hers. "I'd rather you have spent the day with me than at a nightclub."

"We can spend some time together now?"

I leaned back and held an arm out for her, wasting no time in bringing her in for a kiss after she clambered onto my lap. Arms locking around her slim waist to hold her flush against me, one servo sliding up to cup her right cheek as I deepened the kiss.

For once the tension that was usually present in her frame was absent. She responded beautifully, sighing softly and pressing back against me fiercely, shifting so that our apexes grinded against one another.

A soft whimper escaped her as she repeated what she had just done.

I grunted when the pressure lit up the sensors in my array. My servos came down to grip her hips and help her grind faster against me.

But I was warring with myself about not doing anything with her that she would regret later. That's why I pulled away from her. "Athena you're over charged. We should do this later."

Much to my surprise she suddenly swayed as her optics dimmed before sliding shut, and then she slumped against my chassis in a dead faint. Within an astrosecond her vents were rattling softly, and she buried her face in my throat cables.

I sighed in relief, before getting up and taking her into her berthroom. "Troublesome little femme..."

She sighed softly when I put her in her large berth and covered her with a large thermal blanket near the end of it. "Sunstreaker..."

I found myself smiling softly because of the soft utterance of my designation. "Dreaming about me Athe?"

Her lips tilted up at the sides. "Mm hmm..."

I chuckled quietly, leaning down to kiss her gently on the lips. "Maybe I will call you that."

With that I turned and made my way out of her apartment.

"What are you doing to me femme?"

And why wasn't I fighting it harder?

* * *

R&R!


	11. Chapter 11: Prove Them All Wrong

So I decided that I could do another update right away and here it is! There will be a lemon in this one! I did warn you all that it would be fast paced! And from here on out the rating will be bumped up to M! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I walked down the corridor towards the rec room after getting off a long shift in the med bay. It had been relatively uneventful, to the point that we got everything done early and I had plenty of time to daydream without getting wrenched.

Too bad it had dragged on...

Wonder if Sunstreaker's day had been anymore eventful? Patrol had to be more lively than working on the comms deck or in the med bay. At least I thought so, but I was rarely ever put on patrol duty.

As I turned down another corridor near some of the less used training rooms somebot grabbed me from behind, eliciting a scream that they muffled with a large servo, and then whoever it was dragged me into one.

I was nearly having a fragging spark attack!

"Shh Athe! It's just me!"

I could have cried tears of joy when Sunstreaker said that. Instead I whipped around when he let go of me and smacked his chassis. "You scared me!"

He smirked. "Whoops! My bad!"

"You don't even feel bad do you?"

"No not really. Consider it payback for trying to seduce me on your couch last deca-cycle."

My cheeks heated up in a fierce blush when I thought about that. Why did he have to keep bringing my drunken antics up?! "S-Shut up!"

He sat on a training mat and pulled me onto his lap. "I have to say that it was pretty hard to resist you..."

"I'm glad that you did." I admitted honestly.

"I could have done it and you wouldn't even have remembered it most likely. But that wouldn't have proven anything to you would it?"

"No it wouldn't have."

Our lips met as he pulled me flush against him, kissing me hungrily like he always did.

"Somebot could walk in." I mumbled against his lips.

His lips separated from mine and trailed down my throat cables, nipping, and sucking. "Nobot ever comes in here." He placated me.

My chassis bubbled up with a soft whimper when he bit down on one of the more sensitive cables. The sensation caused pleasure to light off in every sensor in my frame, racing through me and making me shudder violently.

Those lips came back up and forced themselves onto mine again as his servos locked around my waist, one sliding up to rest between my wings, and the other sliding down to cup my aft and squeeze it.

I gasped, feeling the room suddenly spin as he pinned me down on the mat below us.

My spark started wildly hammering in my chassis, growing stronger the longer we kissed.

Things were just starting to become more heated when a sudden gasp rang out from somewhere. "WHAT THE FRAG?! THENA?!"

I shoved Sunstreaker away and sat up to stare at Cee and Flareup standing in the doorway staring as me with wide optics. "Oh scrap..."

Flareup stared at me for another astrosecond before her mouth split in a grin. "ATHENA'S FINALLY GETTING LAID!" With that she turned and raced down the corridor screaming that at the top of her vocalizer. "ATHENA AND SUNSTREAKER WERE GETTING IT ON IN THE TRAINING ROOM!"

"FLAREUP! SHUT UP!" I cried mournfully.

Cee moved to cut me off when I went to chase after her sister. "What is going on in here Thena?! You and him... He was on top of you!"

Sunstreaker snorted. "Thank you for stating the obvious."

She glared at him heatedly. "What game are you trying to play with her Sunstreaker?"

"I'm not playing any game with her."

"The frag you're not! What? Do you think you can just get an easy frag out of her?"

I flinched back like somebot had slapped me. "No! Cee it's not like that! Sunstreaker's not like that!"

Her optics snapped over to lock with mine. "He's not like that? Athena how well do you think you know him? He's one of the biggest players in the Autobot ranks! He'll frag anything with a valve!"

Sunstreaker wasn't like that! Maybe he was before but he wasn't now! Bots can change! He was very good to me now! "He's not like that anymore!" I declared vehemently.

Both of them stared at me in surprise after my little outburst. "Athena you don't know him."

"I know him better than you do!"

"I've known him for millennia! Long enough to know that he only plays with a femme's spark then sends her packing after he's gotten whatever he wants from her!" She argued.

My servos clenched when I thought about what she was saying. Sunstreaker may have been like that before, but with me he was patient and affectionate in his own way. I knew that he wouldn't do that to me. "Have you ever actually spent time with him Cee? How can you judge him if you've never gotten to know him personally?"

"I don't need to know him personally. After seeing some of the things he's done I know all that I need to."

I looked away from her. "Well then you can keep that opinion if you want to. I won't judge him based on things that I don't even know about."

"I can tell you why you should stay away from him!"

"And I don't have to listen to you!" I shot back angrily.

She bristled angrily, but was cut off when Uncle Ratchet came stomping in.

When his optics landed on the three of us standing around the mat they narrowed into a glare. "Flareup just ran by screaming about the fact that you two," He pointed at Sunstreaker and I. "were interfacing in the training room."

"No we weren't!"

"Not yet! But you were probably going to!"

Before I could say anything to defend myself Uncle Ratchet unloaded on me. "Athena what the ever loving pit is going through that helm of yours? What could possibly possess you to make such a bad judgement call?"

A loud snarl drew all of our attention over to Sunstreaker, who was scowling angrily. "If I was only in this for a frag I would've already moved on since she's not putting anything out! How about you get that through your helms?!"

I gently touched his arm. "Sunstreaker..."

"I should've listened to you Athena... If I had we wouldn't have to defend ourselves for supposedly doing something that we haven't even done yet!" His voice rose until he was yelling at the last part. And then he suddenly tore himself away from me and stormed passed Cee and Ratchet without a backwards glance.

I watched him go while feeling for all the world like my spark was slowly being ripped apart. Why did they have to judge him for things he had done in the past? Maybe he used to be all the things they were insinuating he was, but if that was the case I knew he had changed.

Why couldn't they see that?

"When your creators find out about this they're not going to be happy Athena."

My spark pulsed hotly. "I'm an adult femme! I can and will do whatever I want! With or without their permission!"

Uncle Ratchet raised an optic ridge at me. "That may be true, but they can still offer their opinion on the subject. I don't think they'll be happy to know that their only sparkling is..." He trailed off like he didn't know what word to use.

"Dating. I'm dating Sunstreaker."

He snorted. "Right. Well I don't think they'll be happy to hear that you're dating Sunstreaker of all mechs."

I glared at him. "Nothing they say can make me change my mind."

Cee stepped towards me. "Thena, Sunstreaker is the kind of mech to use a femme. Please don't let him do something like that to you. You deserve so much better."

"I care about him Cee!"

She froze and stared at me.

I held her gaze and continued on. "He's had so many opportunities to do everything that you're accusing him of. But he hasn't. We haven't faced, and he hasn't even pushed me to do it. There was even a time when I wanted it and he refused my advances because I was over charged, it was after Flareup forced us to go clubbing with her. When I got back home he was waiting for me, and I tried to get him to interface with me, but he just said that he didn't want to take advantage of me because I was over charged! He could have just fragged me and been done with it but he didn't do that! He respected the fact that I wasn't in my right state of processor at that time! And he hasn't made any passes at me since. If he was everything you're accusing him of being, why didn't he just take me and drop me?"

She suddenly looked a little unsure of herself. "I don't know."

"He could have interfaced with you and you just don't know it."

"HE DID NOT! I WOULD REMEMBER IT IF IT HAPPENED! DON'T ACCUSE HIM OF THOSE THINGS!"

"I know him better than you." Uncle continued relentlessly.

I growled low in my chassis, before I pushed passed them. "You used to know him."

With that I stormed out of the base and made my way back home.

Stewing in anger, frustration, and humiliation.

For some reason I just knew in my spark that Sunstreaker had changed from the way they described him. Why couldn't they see that? Why did they have to just condemn him for the things he had done in the past?

When I got back to my place I stormed inside and threw myself down on the couch.

By now my creators were trying to contact me over the bond.

But I kept shutting them out. I didn't want to listen to them belittling me or questioning my decisions like everybot else was! The only bot I cared about at the moment was Sunstreaker.

I needed to see him.

 **:Sunstreaker?:**

It took him a moment to respond, and when he did it was obvious he was still angry. **:What?:**

 **:Come to my place.:**

 **:Why?:**

 **:Because I want to see you.:**

 **:Why? So somebot can see and question if I took advantage of you before leaving?:** He remarked bitterly.

 **:Let them think what they want. It won't change the fact that I want to see you.:**

 **:Fine. It beats getting ambushed at home by my brother.:**

 **:I'll see you in a few kliks then.:**

 **:Bye.:**

He cut the link on me, leaving me laying there on the couch in thought.

My spark pulsed against my casing, in equal parts happiness, and frustration.

Somehow we would prove them all wrong.

I trusted him...

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I didn't know what to expect as I stood outside the door to Athena's apartment. Why had I even come over when it was only going to solidify what everybot thought they knew? And why did I care what any of them thought in the first place?

Normally I would just agree with whatever they were saying without caring at all. But when Ratchet and Arcee had said those things about why I was with Athena it had really slagged me off. They assumed that I was just using her like I had used every other femme, when I'd spent so much time trying to convince her that it wasn't like that! I really did feel something for her, and the last thing that I wanted to do was hurt her.

I was still trying to wrap my helm around that fact. I just hoped that she didn't believe everything that used to be true about me.

Venting heavily, I finally rang the doorbell to let her know I was here.

After half a klik she opened the door and ushered me inside. "Go on into the living room."

I made my way over to sit on the couch while she activated the lock system, before she made her way into the room and sat next to me. "Sunstreaker I'm sorry for what happened earlier."

"Why are you sorry?"

She bowed her helm dejectedly. "Because they said those things about you."

"They were true Athena. I used to be like that."

Her servo slid over mine. "But not anymore."

"Why do you have so much faith in me?" Nobot else ever had before excluding Sides. Yet Athena was sitting here, telling me that I wasn't the same mech I used to be. For what reason did she trust me so much? I hadn't given her that many reasons to really!

Crystal blue optics met mine shyly. "Because you haven't done the same things that almost every mech I've ever met have done."

I ripped my servo away and shot to my peds. "But I could have! I could have done all those things! If I wanted to I could have fragged you and left you already! Or I could be leading you on like Arcee and Ratchet suggested! Maybe I'm just toying with you!"

She jumped up to stand in front of me. "If that was true then why did you turn me away that night? You could have had me, but you turned away what I was offering."

"Maybe I didn't! Maybe I took everything you had to give and you just don't remember it!"

"Then why are you here now? If you took everything that you wanted from me, why are you even here right now? You could have just walked away and left it be. Then you wouldn't be dealing with this now."

That was true. If I had taken her, and that was the only reason I was with her, I would have just walked away and left her there. I wouldn't have come seeking her out when she asked me to, not after what had happened. I would have let everybot think what they wanted without caring.

But I was here now...

And she wasn't sending me away...

"You don't believe everything they say?"

"No I don't."

"How can you be so sure that everything they said isn't still true?"

She looked down at the floor as her door wings twitched upwards once, then she looked back up at me with determination shining in her bright blue optics. "Maybe it's you who needs to prove it to yourself more than to me?"

What? What was that supposed to mean? "What do you mean by that?"

She took a small step towards me. "I think that you're upset because you don't want others to think that you're using me like every other femme. You want to prove that you're not like that anymore."

By now she was standing right in front of me. "Athena?"

With slow deliberate movements she reached out and laid her servos over my chassis. "Prove them all wrong."

My spark nearly stalled from shock. "What?"

"I said prove to me and to yourself that you're not that mech anymore."

I swallowed harshly as the coolant flowed into my interface array. "And how do you want me to do that?"

A soft blush crept to her cheeks. "Well for lack of a better way to put it... Frag me, and don't just drop me tomorrow."

For a klik or so I had to ask myself if she really just said that...

But when she pressed herself flush against me I figured out real quick that it wasn't just my processor playing tricks on me. The way she was looking up at me pleadingly was no illusion, and my frame's powerful reaction to her wasn't something I dreamed up.

Every interface protocol that I had maintained such perfect control over reared up like the angry waves of a storm. My frame became superheated as my systems kicked up at the same moment that I swept her up and carried her into her berthroom. "Are you absolutely sure you want this?" I asked as we passed the threshold and I sat her on her peds near the bottom of the berth.

"Yes I'm sure."

My entire frame shuddered with want at those words and before I realized what I was doing my servos were tugging at her armor to get it off. It only took a moment for her to start helping me, while that fierce blush on her cheeks only darkened more with each piece that came off.

Until the last bit fell away, leaving her standing in front of me in only her bright silver protoform. My optics drifted from her peds, all the way up over her lithe form, passed her supple yet still adequately filled out chassis, and finally to those crystal blue optics.

She was... more beautiful than I was expecting.

Her door wings twitched when I just stood there staring at her. "S-Sunstreaker? Is... something wrong?"

I snapped out of the stupor she had put me in. "No. Nothing's wrong. I was just taking you in is all."

She looked down at the floor. "I know my frame is lacking... but I hope it's still somewhat nice to look at."

I tugged on her arm until she was forced to come flush against my front. "You're not lacking in any way." With that I leaned down and kissed her as my servos roamed over her sensitive wings, eliciting a soft sigh from her, then down to cup at her aft and pull her frame tighter against mine.

A soft moan escaped her, encouraging me to continue on.

Pulling back from her, I quickly started removing my own armor, causing her blush to intensify even more as her optics stayed locked on my face. Even after I removed my sodpiece and released my spike from its' restraints. "Now you're acting all shy? How are we supposed to do this if you won't even look at me?" I purred at her.

Her optics slowly drifted back over my frame.

I stalked closer to her. "That's it..."

It was obvious when they landed on my spike, which was coincidentally when I was no less than a micron away from her. They widened to the size of saucers and a soft squeak escaped her. "I-I... it's h-huge!"

If that didn't always stroke my ego I didn't know what would.

I tugged her flush against my bare protoform. "I'll take that as a compliment."

The air around us became superheated as the warmth radiating out from our frames mingled together. By now both of our cooling systems has come online to help regulate our internal temperature. Oh but it was only going to get worse from here...

Bending down, I swept her up and placed her on her berth before climbing on after her. I crawled up so that I was laying between her little legs, but without pressing myself against her opening yet.

I pressed my lips against hers eagerly, servos dragging down over her frame to dip into all the little places that made femmes writhe with want. And she rewarded me by gasping with pleasure each time I pinched at individual bundles of sensitive circuitry.

Making me rumble with pleasure when the sounds made my desire stir more strongly.

I needed this femme... Right now... But I had to get her ready first...

One of my servos slid down between her legs to slide over her valve opening languidly.

She tensed and whimpered, arching when I slowly slid a digit inside of her tight channel. "Oh..."

And then I slid it against the sensitive inner walls of her valve, slowly pumping it in and out of her until her channel became slick with lubricant. Making it easier to slide my digit in and out faster, until she moaned and arched against me.

How could any femme be so tight when not untried? Oh the way those quivering walls would feel around my spike... I actually shuddered in anticipation. Arousal spiking even more intensely when they shivered more violently, forcing me to speed up and ease another digit in to increase her pleasure.

I leaned down and took her chevron into my mouth, running my glossa over it until she cried out at the dual sensations. It only took another few kliks of this treatment for her valve to suddenly tighten like the strongest vice I'd ever felt, frame arching up as a strangled cry was ripped from her vocalizer as her protoform sparked violently with her overload.

Walls trying to pull my digit in deeper, as I practically snarled in time with my spike throbbing painfully.

She came down from her high with a small whimper, cooling system blaring on overdrive. Her glassy optics regarded me lazily as I settled myself between her legs, spike poised at her entrance.

"Ready?"

She nodded dazedly.

I kissed her at the same moment that I rocked my hips forward, slowly parting those super tight walls with my spike. Pulling back to surge just a little farther in, and repeating this until I finally managed to seat myself in to the hilt, in order to not cause her unnecessary pain.

A hiss forced its' way through my clenched denta.

It should be a sin for any femme to feel this good!

So tight and dripping wet... Like a little slice of heaven in physical form.

She gasped and clutched at my arms, shuddering as she adjusted to having me inside her. By now her optics were almost glowing white, and energon was burning a steady trail from her cheeks down to the upper part of her chassis.

Shifting, I pulled my hips back and thrusted into her, groaning at the way her valve resisted my intrusion, yet at the same time tried to pull me in deeper. The sensation of it felt so good that I found myself thrusting slow and hard just to draw the feeling out.

Kissing her hungrily, and devouring every sound she made.

Every soft whimper...

Or loud moan...

Every rasping cry of pure ecstasy.

The sound was like music to my audios. Not overly loud or excessive, meaning she wasn't faking her pleasure. It was all real.

And it drove me wild...

I could feel her warm wetness massaging me with every thrust of my hips, every instant that I buried my spike back into her depths. And I realized quite suddenly that there were very few places I would rather be than with her like this.

With her yielding to my strength, inviting me in over and over again. Moaning and panting as she spread her legs wider.

Before I even realized it my hips were snapping up to meet hers fast and hard. Shaking the berth we were on as her whimpers became full on cries of pleasure. One after another, mixing in with the way I grunted and snarled in ecstasy as the warmth spread throughout my interface array, and pressure built up in every part of me.

And I just couldn't stop.

I couldn't slow down now that I was so close to release.

Not when I felt the way she was tightening around me again. Which only made me want all of it even more. I'd gone far too long without this.

Without her...

And as the sensations overwhelmed both of us I plastered both our lips and frames together at the exact moment that we overloaded together. Devouring her shrill screech of pleasure, and muffling my own sharp cry of her designation.

My frame had never sparked so strongly from an overload, nor had I ever spilled so much inside a femme before. By the time my hips twitched one last time, I was sure that I probably didn't have much more to give at the moment.

I couldn't even move to pull myself out of her for close to two or three kliks. And afterwards it was only to slump beside her in exhaustion.

I stared at her as she rolled over to face me with a nervous smile. "Was it okay?" She asked hesitantly.

Still so shy and unsure of herself... "It was way better than ok."

Her optics brightened. "I was just worried since I'm not quite as experienced as some femmes."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing. In this situation I wouldn't have had it any other way." If anything she felt glorious...

She scooted over until her chassis was pressed against mine. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

I smirked at her. "Femme you'll be lucky if you can get me to leave your berth."

A soft giggle escaped her. "Noted. But I think you'll have to leave it at some point."

That was true... Most likely when word reached Sides about what had happened and he bashed my walls down and pelted me with questions. Or when I didn't come home tonight.

I wrapped my arms around her anyways.

I could worry about all of that tomorrow.

And explain to my twin why there were rumors of me fragging a femme in one of the training rooms. That and to correct him by telling him that it hadn't happened until I made it to her apartment...

Wonder how he would take the fact that I was dating said femme?

What would he think of Athena?

She shifted against my chassis, drawing my attention down to her peaceful looking face. She seemed to have fallen into recharge for now, probably tired from what had just happened.

I ran my digits down over her cheek gently.

Sides would probably like her when he met her...

Which was most likely going to happen sooner than I was ready for.

Oh well. Nothing could be done about it now...

* * *

R&R!


	12. Chapter 12: Demanding Introductions

Another early update! I just couldn't resist! Poor Sunny... that's all I can really say about this one... Flareup really needs to learn how to shut her mouth! Well I guess some good will come from it! Lots of stuff coming in the next few chapters! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I can't believe that he stayed...

But as I laid in my berth cuddling against his chassis I knew that it was true. And the way it made me feel was indescribable really. Like so many different emotions were raging inside me, from happiness, all the way to shock and disbelief.

Because no mech ever stayed, and for that reason I actually expected him to have left during the night.

But I was so happy that he hadn't left me.

If it wasn't for the way my tanks suddenly rumbled with hunger I would have stayed where I was. Instead I was forced to start getting around for the day, pausing only briefly to stare at Sunstreaker while he recharged, before I kissed his cheek and got out of my berth to get armored for the day.

My frame felt loose and light, like I had just soaked in an oil bath or something. It was better than anything I'd ever felt after interface.

There were more important things for me to do than contemplate the past though. Such as refueling and getting Sunstreaker some energon too, and that thought had me slowly ambling out of my berthroom to get it.

I only stopped for a moment to let Sparky out of his cage. "Morning Sparky."

He clicked before hopping onto my shoulder, hitching a ride into the fuel prep room where I set about making some warm spiced energon for my mechfriend, and some sweet energon for myself.

I couldn't help but to think about last night and it made my blush when I remembered all the things he had done to me. All the things I never thought that I could enjoy with a mech, but with him I had.

His every touch made me feel special, and the affection he showed made my spark pulse in its' casing. No mech had ever made me feel like I mattered before.

I didn't even really recognize my life anymore.

Jumping into a berth with a mech? Let alone a mech I hadn't known for a long time?

Before I met him I never would have done so.

I shook those thoughts off and put the energon cubes onto the tray, then I filled Sparky's dish before I made my way back into my berthroom. Sunstreaker was still laying down when I walked in, but his optics were open and he lifted his helm at my approach.

"Morning."

He grunted. "Morning."

I paused short of sitting the tray on my berthside table. "Is something wrong?" Did he regret what had happened between us?

"My brother woke me up by smacking me over the bond. Apparently he wants to know why Flareup was running around the base screaming about me fragging some femme in the training room."

My door wings hitched in surprise, before drooping at the implications of those words.

Oh... Oh no...

"You don't have to tell him about me if you don't want to Sunstreaker. Just pretend that I was some random femme if you're not ready for him to know. I don't want you to feel pressured or anything."

He sat up fully, causing my thermal blanket to pool around his waist. "He already knows there's more to it than that. Just saying that won't be enough for him."

I really didn't know what to say to that...

"Maybe it's time he met you anyways."

My optics shot up to his face. "W-What?"

He raised an optic ridge at me in question. "Athena we interfaced last night and I kept my promise not to leave you. Don't you think that might mean that I want to keep you around for a while?"

Well I hadn't thought of it like that... But I had hoped so... "I hoped that it meant that." I admitted shyly.

"Well don't you think that means that sooner or later you're going to have to meet my brother?"

"Well yes but I wanted it to be at a time you were comfortable with."

"Well Sides is impatient and he's demanding to meet you now. If I keep him waiting he'll come hunt me down, and badger me until I introduce him to you anyways. It's best for all involved if we just get it over with now."

That made sense, but I couldn't help but to be nervous that his brother wouldn't like me. It was just my first reaction to being noticed, or meeting somebot new. I was a skittish bot by nature, with the exception of my friends and family unit, and now Sunstreaker.

I turned away with a blush when he got up and started snapping his armor back on distractedly. "What if he doesn't like me?"

"Sides is a lot more open and accommodating than I am. I'm sure that you two will get along great." He finished putting his armor back on and turned to make his way around to my side of the berth where his energon was sitting. "Just a fair word of warning though, Sides will flirt with you when you meet him. It's just how he is."

My cheeks heated up horribly. "But I-I'm dating you!"

His optics met mine over the rim of his energon cube, some sort of emotion that I couldn't decipher resting in them. "Doesn't matter." He grunted after taking a drink.

I could have died when he said that. "He... flirts with your femmefriends?"

"It's a forgone conclusion. Not that I have had many femmefriends that I care about."

"Oh..."

"Just don't worry about it. I won't get mad if he flirts with you."

"Well I'm not going to flirt back either way." I nodded assertively.

He smirked. "We'll see about that."

Was this some kind of test or something? Did that mean he wanted me to flirt back or not? I was confused! Even if he wanted me to I didn't know how to flirt really! I was still stumbling along with learning how not to faint whenever he flirted with me!

Well before last night I was...

Now I didn't know how anything would work...

Maybe I should just focus on what was going on now?

Easy enough to do when he shoved my cube into my servos. "You should refuel before we go."

I did so without even really tasting it because of how nervous I was.

Mostly because the thought of meeting his brother due to the fact that he had heard about Sunstreaker and I meant that my own creators had most likely heard about what had happened by now. Or they would very soon. Meaning they would no doubt confront me or contact me over the bond demanding to know what the rumor was all about.

Them... meeting Sunstreaker... I shuddered at the thought...

Sunstreaker's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "We should get going before Sides comes looking for me."

He held out a servo for me to take, and together we locked my apartment up and started making our way to his housing unit.

All along the way my processor kept racing.

Would his brother really like me?

Would he really flirt with me like Sunstreaker suggested he would?

What was I supposed to do if he did?

What if I fainted because of it?

Oh Primus... what if I made a bad impression on him? What if he decided that I wasn't good enough for his brother? After everything that had happened in the last day that would kill me!

"I can feel how nervous you are Athena. Just relax."

"I can't relax! I don't do well when meeting new bots!"

"I noticed. Look I know that Sides will like you so you're worrying over nothing."

I didn't respond since that was only half of the problem...

"Unless you're worried about something else too?" He guessed knowingly.

How was he so perceptive? No. I needed to focus on what was happening right now! Not what was most likely going to happen soon enough! I just had to take things one step at a time, not all at once!

"Nothing that's an issue right now."

He stared down at me but didn't say anything else about it.

Or more like he didn't have a chance to as we both came to a stop in front of a plain two story housing unit several blocks from my apartment building.

"Are you ready to meet my brother Athena?"

I sighed heavily before steeling myself to do just that. "Y-Yes..."

Servo in servo, we made our way into the housing unit. "Sides?! I'm back!" Sunstreaker called in after we walked inside.

While we waited for some sort of response I took the place in; it was homey with its' cream colored slate floors and plain colored slate walls, but it was obvious that it was a mech's home. The living room had a large TV and speaker system hooked up along the far wall, opposite of a large sectional couch situated behind a refueling table with several game controllers on it. It looked nice, but it was lacking a certain feminine air...

"Sunny you're back!"

My helm snapped to the side as I squeaked and ducked behind Sunstreaker at the same moment that a red, black, and white blur raced towards us. The mech, who looked a lot like Sunstreaker, crashed into him and nearly tackled him over on top of me. He would have if I hadn't ducked out of the way with a squeak again, pressing myself against the wall as my chassis heaved.

"You are so busted bro! I knew that you were keeping something from me!" The predominantly red mech, with a black helm, servos, sodpiece, with bits of white on his shoulders, forearms, and abdominal armor, declared loudly.

I stared at him as he rubbed his fist on Sunstreaker's helm. This was Sides?

"So where is the femme?"

Blue optics that were the exact same shade as Sunstreaker's searched the area around them until they landed on me and widened.

I shifted awkwardly, door wings twitching nervously. "H-Hello..."

He got up and leaned down like he was inspecting me. "Huh..."

I blushed as he literally got right in my face.

Then he grinned. "Whoa she's a lot prettier than I was expecting you ugly mug!"

Sunstreaker growled and smacked him. "I am not ugly!"

Sides smirked and winked at me flirtatiously. "I know somebot that's not ugly."

"Stop flirting with her already Sides!"

The red mech seemed to ignore him, instead he swept an arm out and physically steered me into the living area. "So... what's your designation femme?"

I looked at Sunstreaker over my shoulder and he just nodded. "A-Athena..."

"Athena huh...? A pretty designation for a very pretty femme."

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Sides was nonstop badgering me with questions about Athena.

 **(Where did you meet her?)**

 **(At the art store.)**

 **(Really? Why would she be in an art store? That's boring!)**

I growled and sent a burst of aggravation through the bond. **(Because she's an artist like me!)**

 **(Oh... Well is she the reason you haven't been fragging any femmes lately?)**

Well considering the fact that I fragged her last night I wouldn't say yes to that anymore... Well to not getting fragged, but she was sort of the reason that I was still not fragging the femmes Sides brought home.

He looked at me from the corner of his optics as he prattled to Athena about something, maybe a joke. I wasn't really paying attention. **(You fragged her last night?)**

 **(Yes.)**

Amusement and curiosity flowed through the bond. **(What was it like? Was it good?)**

 **(Yes.)**

 **(Could you actually kiss her while you were fragging her? I swear some femmes have such a big chassis that I can't reach their mouth when I'm on top of them.)**

 **(Yes I could kiss her, and do me a favor and don't make any comments about her chassis.)**

He blinked. **(Why? What's wrong with it?)**

 **(She's self conscious about the size of it.)**

 **(Have you told her there's nothing wrong with it?)**

 **(Yes. But she's got very low self esteem so telling her doesn't do much. She still denies it whenever I say she's beautiful.)**

It was obvious how much that one comment startled my twin. **(You actually care enough to bother trying to reassure her? I've never seen you give a frag about a femme's feelings before!)**

A surge or anger pulsed in my spark. **(Yes you aft! We're dating and I care about her enough to reassure her that she's better than she makes herself out to be! I don't want to take advantage of her or just take what I want without caring about what she wants!)**

Our twin bond nearly quaked from how much shock Sides was experiencing. **(Y-You... Who are you and what have you done with my twin?)**

 **(Stop being stupid! Is it really that hard to believe that I can treat a femme well?)**

 **(Well... I've never seen it happen so...)**

Right... because every femme we'd ever been with or bothered with could never be bothered to try getting to know me. They never shared any interests with me and were often put off by my demeanor.

I wasn't stupid enough to believe that I'd never messed up a relationship where Sides actually had feelings for a femme. It had happened a few times and I had always sent them packing with my attitude, and my tendency of only paying attention to them in the berth. Nothing ever worked out...

I always messed everything up...

And yet... I met and developed feelings for Athena after both of us had seemingly given up on ever finding somebot. She came, and for the first time I felt something that made me want to see her in a different way. She wasn't a frag toy or an annoyance to me. But I didn't really know what I felt for her.

What I did know was that I didn't really deserve her. Not after all the things that I had done to other femmes, and all the times that I ruined my brother's happiness.

 **(You didn't ruin my happiness Sunny.)**

 **(Yes I did... I messed everything up with-!)**

He cut me off. **(No you didn't. Things just weren't meant to work with her. I know that now.)**

 **(But Sides you...)**

 **(Loved her?)** He smiled sadly. **(Yeah I did, but you never could.)**

 **(I... she just...)**

 **(Didn't fit both of us. She couldn't match the two of us or meld with us in a way that didn't push us apart. That's something that wasn't your fault Sunny.)**

It was my fault. No matter how many times he said that it wasn't. He could have had her and been happy if it wasn't for me.

 **(But then you wouldn't have been happy. That's not how this bond works Sunny. We both have to settle on one femme.)**

 **(I doubt you'll like any femme that I like.)**

He smirked as his optics drifted over towards Athena. **(I don't know... I'm kinda likin' this one so far. She's pretty, sweet, and shy. Not all vain like most of the other femmes, but she still seems to take care of herself. And she blushes super easy!)**

 **(Which I'm sure you love.)**

 **(Oh I do... Now I just need to get to know her a little so if you'll excuse me...)**

With that my twin turned his attention towards Athena. "So... Athena what do you like to do?"

She looked down at her lap shyly. "W-Well I... paint..."

"Sunny did tell me that. Are you any good?"

"Not really..."

I snorted. "She's got the skills to compete with me." Which wasn't a stretch to admit after seeing some of her work.

Her helm snapped up, optics locking on my face. "N-No I'm don't!"

"Yes you do."

She looked like she wanted to argue more, but Sides swiftly cut in before it could escalate into another debate like it normally did. "Well if Sunny says it then it's true."

The blush that graced her cheeks almost made it seem like her helm might explode. At least she didn't argue anymore.

Or more like Sides didn't give her a chance to. "What else do you like to do?"

"I..."

She seemed to be overwhelmed at the moment so I answered for her. "I know that she games."

As expected Sides optics lit up. "A femme that games? Awesome!"

I smirked at her grateful look. "Yup and she's pretty good from what I've seen so far. Makes mechs rage on COV."

My twin grabbed two controllers. "Let's play a few games Princess!"

Her door wings twiched. "Princess?"

"Don't ask." I grumbled as Sides loaded up COV.

Nothing else was said during the time it took for both of them to load up their avatars, and sync Athena's game data. She just sat there pressed against my side, kicking her peds against the couch distractedly. It was a nervous habit of hers...

But then Sides took one look at the screen after it finished loading and exploded. "YOU'RE THE FEMME THAT KEEPS SHOOTING ME IN THE HELM?!"

Athena squeaked and practically scrambled into my lap. "W-What?!"

My twin just kept going though. "YOU ARE THE FEMME THAT KEEPS SNIPING ME IN THE HELM!"

She looked at the screen where Sides' avatar was sitting on the right side, next to a tall purple and gold praxian femme which I assumed was her avatar. "And you're the mech that keeps asking for my comm frequency!"

"THAT MEANS THAT SUNNY WAS THE MECHFRIEND THAT THREATENED TO UNMECH ME!"

What were the odds? Seriously? "I didn't know that it was you."

"What are the odds that my-!"

 **(Sides don't tell her that we're twins yet!)**

He froze. **(Why not?)**

 **(Because it'll probably freak her out!)**

 **(Well she's going to have to find out at some point!)**

I was well aware of that, but I was kind of dreading how it would go. Most bots didn't want to have any real relationship with twins outside of some erotic fantasies about wild threesomes. While we had met a few who were willing to try for more, it was few and far between. **(Sides, Athena is really shy and it takes a while for her to open up. If we throw that at her right now she might be overwhelmed by it! I don't want to scare her off!)**

 **(Well then what am I supposed to do? How can I date her if she doesn't even know?)**

 **(Just get to know her until she's more comfortable with you. Then after that happens we can bridge the whole twins thing and see where it goes. If either of us mentions it at this point I'm sure that she'll faint.)**

 **(So... be patient?)**

I nearly cringed at the thought of Sides trying to be patient. That was about as likely as a day going by where Ratchet didn't wrench somebot. **(At least try. Just promise me that you won't scare her off.)**

 **(I'll try not to.)**

 **(Good.)**

 **(Get to know her... get to know her...)** He mused as he turned back towards the TV. **(Well I do know that she kicks my aft in COV on a daily basis.)**

 **(At least she shares a common interest with you too.)**

 **(That's a good thing. But not for my KD.)**

I rolled my optics at him. **(Idiot...)**

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

Later that night after Athena had gone home, I laid in my berth watching Sunny recharge on his side facing away from me. The events of the day were flashing through my helm over and over again, preventing me from getting any recharge.

Athena was... different.

She was petite and shy, with a sweet and timid disposition. She was different than most of the femmes my twin or I had previously had relations with.

But it wasn't necessarily in a bad way. That much I could admit from the time I had spent with her today, watching how Sunny interacted with her. The way he acted around her, and the way he looked at her was so different than the lustful gaze he gave most femmes. There was warmth and affection in his optics every time they landed on that little white femme.

It warmed my spark to see that my twin had actually found a femme that he could feel something for. Even if he didn't seem to realize the full extent of what it was yet. At least feeling what he felt gave me some hope that maybe there was a femme that could match us both...

Now if only my idiot twin could figure out that he was in love with her...

That would be the day...

* * *

R&R!


	13. Chapter 13: Close Encounters & Nicknames

So here's another early update for you guys! I hope that Athena didn't expect to get away without having somebot confront her about Sunstreaker again! At least I didn't drop the whole twin thing on her in the last chapter otherwise she may have self combusted or something! She is going to most likely be in hot water over the whole thing anyways. Anyways... I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! I ALSO PUT UP A NEW POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE SO PLEASE CHECK IT OUT!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Sideswipe was certainly an interesting mech. A little on the flirty side, but he was very nice. He didn't make me feel threatened or overly uncomfortable, and he was fun to play with on COV. Not that it stopped me from blushing or stuttering like an idiot whenever he made some sort of perverted comment.

I didn't think I'd ever get passed having that reaction.

He was easy enough to get along with though. Something told me that Sideswipe was going to be a big part of my life from now on, that much I would tell from seeing how close he and Sunstreaker were.

But I had more important things to worry about right now.

Such as the fact that as I was sorting medical logs Danni came storming into the med bay with blazing optics. Oh scrap!

She stormed up to me and physically dragged me out of the med bay without giving me a chance to protest. "I can't believe what I've been hearing Athena!" She started raging at me as we walked briskly down the corridor.

Thanks Flareup... Now I was on the receiving end of my Danniluk's wrath. "Danni I-!"

"Don't say anything! We're going to talk this all over as a family unit!"

Oh no... not a family unit talk, as in with Opi there! "But-!"

"Not one word!" She snapped.

So I didn't say anything since I knew she wouldn't listen anyways. I just listened to her raging during the entire trek to Opi's office. Where, upon entering, he was standing in front of his desk expectantly.

I barely had the chance to take him in before Danni was in front of me snarling. "ATHENA I WANT TO KNOW WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON IN YOUR HELM!"

"Um..."

"I MEAN... INTERFACING IN ONE OF THE TRAINING ROOMS?! WITH A MECH LIKE SUNSTREAKER?! SINCE WHEN DID YOU START MAKING SUCH BAD DECISIONS?!"

"We weren't interfacing!" I protested. Well not at that time, but I wasn't going to mention what had happened later that night. Why did Flareup have to go telling everybot that?! Now rumors were running wild all over the base!

"THAT'S NOT WHAT FLAREUP SAID!"

"Flareup overexaggerates things sometimes! You know that!"

"SO ARE YOU SAYING THAT SHE'S EXAGGERATING ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE WAS ON TOP OF YOU?"

I cringed. "Well... that did happen... but not in the way she made it out to seem."

That didn't do anything to lessen the waves of anger buffeting me over the bond, but at least she seemed to calm down a little... if anybot could call seething in anger calm. "So if you weren't interfacing what were you doing?"

"Um..."

"What. Were. You. Doing?!"

"Nothing bad..."

Her optics narrowed into an even more intense glare. "Is that so? Well I guess I can call off the armed guards!"

"What?! You called the guards on my mechfriend!"

"Ah! I knew it!"

Scrap! Scrap! Double scrap! I walked right into that one!

"You're going to be watched more closely than a cyber-hawk staring down a glitch mouse for the rest of your existence!"

"Danni seriously?!"

"Yes seriously! Of all the mechs that you could have given a chance, it had to be Sunstreaker? There were so many other choices for mechs on base that were better!"

My door wings hitched behind my back with my rapidly growing agitation. "Well if there are so many better options why don't you start listing them off so I know just what I'm missing out on!"

"Fine! There's Blaster, Bee, Smokescreen, Bluestreak, Mirage, Hound, Bulkhead, Wheeljack!"

"Wheeljack? Seriously? He's nice and all but do you want me to get blown up repeatedly?"

"It's better than getting dumped and having your spark broken! At least he's loyal!"

I crossed my arms across my chassis and turned away from her. "Well I'm just not interested in him! Or any of them for that matter!"

"What's wrong with Bee?"

"I've known Bee since we were both younglings! That's just weird!"

"Well what about Blaster? He's nice and outgoing!"

"And way too loud for anybot to ever have any hope of hearing me when he's around!" Plus he was kind of... a little bit... well he was just too big and loud for me. That was just how I felt about that whole situation.

"Smokescreen is nice!"

"Yeah and he gambles nonstop! I'd probably end up living under an overpass somewhere with how much credits he spends at the casinos!" Not that he wasn't outgoing and nice, but no. Just no.

"Well Mirage is dignified and cultured."

"And he's snobby. No."

"Sunstreaker is just as snobbish so that comment is invalid."

"Well he's the good kind of snobbish."

"Well Bluestreak is nice and not snobbish at all!"

"Danni Bluestreak is just a friend! And no offense but he talks a little too much for my sanity!" Too much for me to spend every waking astrosecond with him. Sometimes I just needed my quiet time!

"What about Hound?"

"No way. He smokes cy-gars from the time he gets out of berth to the the time he goes back to it." It was not a good habit! His vents must be in horrible shape!

She was grasping for any option at this point. "Bulkhead?"

"I think he has a thing for Flareup." And so did Warpath. Either way I wasn't into Bulkhead like that even if he was a sweetspark.

Aggravation was literally seeping off of her in waves, mixing with the worry and concern she was feeling. Danni was far too overprotective of me at times, even if I couldn't really fault her for it. I was her only sparkling even if it was by adoption only.

"That does not make your wellbeing any less of a concern to us. An adoptive creator bond can be every bit as strong as one bore from the kindling of a sparkling from their carrier's spark." Opi finally interjected.

I looked at him partially in surprise since he had been so quiet that I had forgotten about him really. "I know..."

"Then you know that we do have some concerns about this situation that need to be addressed."

My entire frame slumped tiredly. "I know that too. Ask away..."

"What was happening in the training room the day before last?"

A surge of hot energon pooled in my cheeks. Oh why that type of question? "W-We were... kissing..."

"Just kissing?" Danni pressed irritably. "You expect me to believe that he wasn't trying to push you into doing more?"

"Yes! Yes I expect you to believe me when I say he wasn't trying to get me to do more!"

She tensed up, but Opi cut her off before she could start unloading on me again. "So he's not pressuring you to do anything that you aren't ready for?"

"Absolutely not. He's been incredibly understanding and accommadating of my wants and needs."

"Sunstreaker?" Danni muttered incredulously.

"Yes Sunstreaker."

"Sunstreaker being understanding and accommdating of your needs?"

"Yes he has been."

"Did Ratchet belt you in the helm one too many times with his wrench?"

"No! I don't understand why this concept is so hard to understand!" Primus they were annoying me! What part of Sunstreaker was actually being good to me, was so hard to understand? Bots could change!

"It's just that... this is Sunstreaker we're talking about! He's never been one to care about somebot else's needs, and nobot could ever consider him a caring bot."

"Well bots can change. He's proven that to me."

She didn't look like she knew what to say to that, or whether she wanted to ring my neck or something.

"Are you happy with him?" Opi asked seriously.

"Yes. He's very good to me."

He probed at me over the bond until I dropped my defenses and let him in to feel what I was feeling. All the happiness and contentment that I hadn't felt in the same way before, and the way my spark pulsated happily when I was with Sunstreaker. The way that he really did make me feel special, not like some frag toy to be used and discarded.

It seemed to at least placate him, but the same could not be said for Danni. She was stubbornly refusing to feel the things I was trying to get her to understand. She really was that certain that Sunstreaker was just going to hurt me regardless of how I felt.

But I was so sure that he wouldn't do that.

"Well if you are sure then I will trust your judgement."

Danni whipped around to stare at him at the same moment that my jaw literally dropped. "Optimus you cannot really be supportive of this!"

"Elita she is no longer the youngling we took in and made a part of our family unit. She is an adult femme who is fully capable of making her own decisions, and dealing with the consequences. Only time will tell whether she is right to trust him, but the option of finding out is her decision alone."

"But what if he hurts her somehow?"

"What if he proves that he has truly changed?"

"What if he hasn't changed?"

"That is for Athena to find out on her own."

"Even if her spark gets broken?" Danni shot back angrily.

"We cannot dictate her every decision Elita. All we can do is stand back and let her forge her own path in life, as all creators do when their sparklings grow up."

I watched as she finally slumped in defeat, but the fire never left her optics. "Fine! But if he hurts her-!"

"He will be made well aware of the fact that there will be consequences if he does hurt our sparkling."

Oh scrap...

Danni turned to me with a moody huff. "So how far have you gone with him?"

I almost died when she asked me that. Instead I squeaked and plastered my lips together to keep from making another sound.

"Athena..." She stepped closer threateningly. "How far has your relationship progressed?"

"That's a really invasive question Danni."

"How far have you gone with Sunstreaker Athena?"

I cringed away from her fearfully. "I... um... all the way... to the berth...?"

Within an astrosecond she had drawn a rifle from subspace. "He's gonna be nothing more than scrap metal when I'm done with him!"

"NO! DON'T SCRAP HIM!"

"You've got a breem headstart to get him somewhere safe. After that it's open season on that mech!"

Scrap! I turned and raced out the door and through the base while wildly trying to comm Sunstreaker to warn him about the danger. But he wasn't responding and I had no idea what shift he was working or where!

I was so distracted that I ran face first into somebot and was sent crashing to the floor. "Ouch..."

"Are you okay Princess?"

Princess? Who the pit called me-! Sideswipe!

Sure enough when I looked up said mech was looking down at me worriedly. I would have greeted him politely despite the fact that he just knocked me over, but then I remembered the one femme search party with guns waiting to be unleashed on his brother.

I leapt to my peds and grabbed his arm. "Where's your brother?"

"Um, he's getting off patrol in a few kliks or so. Why? Hey wait! Where are you going?"

I was already racing down the corridor towards where bots getting off of patrol clocked out.

The sounds of peds clomping down the corridor vibrated in my wings. "Princess wait!"

And then Sideswipe was running next to me. "Can't wait Sideswipe! If I don't hurry your brother is going to be nothing more than scrap metal within a breem!"

He blinked at me. "Why?"

"Because Flareup had to go and run her mouth about us fragging in the training room, and now there's about to be a one femme search party with guns just waiting to be jammed up his aft!"

"What?!"

"Just never mind!"

"What did you get him into?"

"Flareup did it not me! She told everybot about it!"

"Aww scrap!"

We raced into the clock out station in time to see Sunstreaker clocking out for the day. Oh thank Primus! "Sunstreaker!"

He looked at us as we ran towards him. "Athena? Sides? What's going on?"

I ran behind him and started shoving him towards the door. "If you want to live you better get your aft out of the base now."

"What?"

"Just move! Move now!" When he just stood there I peeked out from behind him at Sideswipe. "Grab him and pull!"

"I can walk just fine on my own."

"Then walk before you get killed! Like now!"

Sideswipe grabbed his forearm and pulled him towards the exit. "I think she's serious bro. We better get outta here before the one femme search party gets here."

Sunstreaker snorted as we made it out into the corridor. "Do you two think I'm afraid of a femme?"

He wouldn't be thinking that when Danni got a hold of him!

Of course as soon as I thought that a thundering yell echoed down the corridor. "SUNSTREAKER!" Danni came screeching around the corridor with her weapons systems fully activated.

"OH SCRAP! WHY IS ELITA THE ONE FEMME SEARCH PARTY WITH WEAPONS?!" Sideswipe yelped.

"RUN!" I screamed as even Sunstreaker kicked into gear and together the three of us took of running as fast as our legs could carry us.

"GET BACK HERE!"

"RUN FASTER YOU TWO!" I yelped as I passed by them and left them in the dust.

"HOW ARE YOU RUNNING THAT FAST? YOUR LEGS ARE SHORT!" Sideswipe yelled as we all shot passed the entrance of the base and took of running down the street.

"I USED TO BE A SCOUT BEFORE I GOT PROMOTED TO SHARPSHOOTER! I HAVE TO BE FAST ON MY PEDS!"

"WELL SLOW DOWN SO WE CAN CATCH UP!"

"I WILL WHEN WE GET AWAY FROM HER!"

"I THINK WE DID LOSE HER!"

"I'M NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES UNTIL WE GET BEHIND A LOCKED DOOR!"

And I didn't take any chance of her catching up to us, I just kept running as fast as my peds could carry me until we made it to my apartment and locked ourselves in.

Afterwards I slumped against the wall in exhaustion. "Oh... Frag you Flareup... Seriously..."

Both mechs looked up at me from where they were doubled over venting harshly.

Then Sunstreaker righted himself. "What the slag was all that about?"

I sighed heavily as I stood and walked towards the living room. "You do not want to know."

"Considering the fact that the Lady Prime is chasing me with weapons and threatening to kill me, I feel that I have a right to know." He argued as he followed along right behind me.

"He does have a point." Sideswipe agreed as we entered my living room, optics looking around to take in every detail. "Whoa... you have a nice place."

I sat on the couch. "Well I'm primarily a medic now that the war is over, but I do comms shifts and even patrol from time to time, so my pay's pretty good."

"Cool..." His optics drifted over to Sparky's cage but my little stream glider wasn't in it. "Why is there a cage over there in the corner?"

As soon as he mentioned it a loud screech rang out as a blue and yellow blur descended from somewhere overhelm and shot at his face, latching on and ripping a startled cry from him as my little glider proceeded to scratch at his face plates.

I leapt to my peds and yanked him away from Sideswipe's startled looking face, holding him up in front of me so that I could scold him properly. "SPARKY NO!"

Sunstreaker scowled. "How come he zapped me when I first saw him, and only scratched Sides?"

"I have no idea..."

"What is that...?" Sideswipe muttered.

Sparky clambered up on my shoulder and clicked at Sideswipe threateningly, armor sparking in warning. "Stop it! You be nice!"

He blinked at me cutely.

"I'm not falling for that."

"He scratched me!"

"Suck it up Sides." Sunstreaker glared at him.

Sideswipe pouted and gently touched the small wounds on his face plate. I felt bad so I put Sparky down on the back of the couch and approached him. "Let me see."

He craned his neck down so that I could inspect the scratches. "Is he virus free?"

My optics met his as my door wings twiched with my nervousness. "Y-Yes... He's taken to a vet that s-specializes in caring for cyber-animals every few deca-cycles. But maybe I should get some disinfectant just in case."

I pulled away and shuffled into my wash racks to grab some disinfectant and medical grade cleaning cloth out of a kit I stashed in there. Once I had it I turned and made my way back into the living room, freezing in my spot when I saw Sideswipe on his knees, leaning over the table and staring at Sparky dead in the optic.

Sunstreaker was just staring at him with an optic ridge raised in question, but then his gaze swung up to me. "He likes your stream glider."

I blinked. "But Sparky scratched him..."

"He's cute..." Sideswipe murmured.

"Um, w-what?"

Sideswipe turned towards me with a bright grin. "I've never seen a stream glider before! They're awesome!"

I smiled softly. "Yes they are." With that I shuffled forward and sat on the edge of the table. "Let me clean those scratches off for you."

He sat completely still as I poured some disinfectant onto the cloth in my servo and proceeded to gently wipe it over the scratches on his pristine silver faceplate. His optics seemed to be locked on my face, watching me without blinking.

Normally that would send me running, but when I was in medical mode I tended to ignore my normal instincts. Which would normally be to run and hide if a mech so much as looked at me, which meant that Uncle Ratchet had trained me well enough to leave my problems behind when a bot needed help.

"I've never seen you willingly get close to another bot like that. Well besides me of course." Sunstreaker commented pervertedly.

And just like that I was blushing furiously as Sideswipe smirked at me. "Sunstreaker! Don't say things like that in front of somebot else!"

"It's not like Sides doesn't know that we've been together." He pointed out.

My door wings shot up as my jaw dropped. "YOU TOLD HIM?!"

"Yeah. I figured there was no sense keeping it a secret since he already met you."

I just gaped at him in horror.

"Speaking of telling... Why don't you tell us why Elita -1 just tried to murder me?"

That... how to explain that she was technically my Danniluk? And that she had found out about us facing and was plotting his murder because of it? Oh Primus! What to say?! "Oh she didn't really try yet. If she did you'd most likely be dead." I babbled nervously.

Both of them raised optic ridges at me. "That doesn't answer the question."

A sigh escaped me as I finished cleaning Sideswipe's face and let the rag fall to the tabletop, before I got up and sat back down on the couch with my wings sitting rigidly on my shoulders. "Where to start with that...?"

"How about the beginning?" Sunstreaker offered.

"Well... to make a long story short... she's my Danniluk."

Their jaws dropped. "Danniluk?!"

I shifted away from them a little bit. "Well... y-yeah..."

Sideswipe seemed to pull himself together first. "We didn't even know they had a sparkling."

"But you're a different frame type than they are. How can you be made up of their coding?" Sunstreaker asked curiously.

Because I wasn't really their sparkling... I wasn't kindled from Danni's spark, or carried in her gestation chamber. I was just some lost little runaway that wasn't really a part of either of them. Some femmling that just fell into their lap, and they decided to keep. But at least they cared... At least somebot cared for once...

"Athena?"

My mechfriend's voice chased away thoughts that I'd rather not think about, some of them anyways. I looked up to find his bright blue optics watching me steadily. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine." Neither looked like they believed me, but I just pressed on anyways. I owed them an explanation as to why my Danni had attempted to murder Sunstreaker. "You see... I'm not their biological sparkling. They adopted me when I was an adolescent."

"Oh. Well that makes sense."

"Yeah... and they can both be a little overprotective... and well... I'm not a very good liar so..."

"They confronted you about us didn't they?" Sunstreaker demanded.

"Yes. Flareup kind of... let it slip to everybot, meaning they found out and wanted to know what was going on."

"So she decided to try murdering me because I'm dating you?"

I cringed. "Well... that wasn't the whole reason..."

He stared at me for a klik or so until his optics widened with realization. "They know about the other night..."

"Yes... she confronted me and... I couldn't lie to her about it..."

"You could have!" He argued hotly. "Now it's open season on me!"

"I'm sorry."

He groaned. "Athena the whole base is going to be roped into an all out mech hunt for me!"

"I tried to evade the question but she's like a crouching giga tiger! Have you ever been on the receiving end of her anger before? I'd rather face down Megatron than her! At least getting stomped to death is less painful than enduring whatever she dishes out! Even Opi's afraid of her sometimes!"

"Femme... What am I supposed to do now?"

I racked my processor for any ideas. "Um, take a vacation until things calm down?"

He just stared at me.

"Um.. if you have any time off lined up?"

"I do... But I doubt that a deca-cycle is going to be enough time for the rumors that I'm fragging the Prime's femmling to die down."

When he put it like that maybe that was true... But it still made me cringe when he put it so vulgarly. "I don't really know what else to say Sunstreaker. It's not like we can go back and change what happened in the training room that day."

Even if we could I don't think I'd want to... It led to something good as well, and I enjoyed my night with Sunstreaker.

"I wouldn't want to do that anyways, because if it hadn't happened the aftermath wouldn't have occurred either. And I really enjoyed every moment of that." He practically growled as he scooted closer to me, almost like he'd forgotten that his brother was sitting there watching us.

But I hadn't and I wasn't going to get friendly in front of anybot. So I reached out and placed a servo on his chassis. "Sunstreaker not in front of your brother."

He groaned again before flopping back against the couch in defeat. "And just when I really need it too!"

Sideswipe grinned at him. "You're really into her aren't you bro? I've never seen you get so disappointed because a femme said no."

Sunstreaker kicked him in the side which sent him sprawling face first onto the floor.

I leapt up and knelt down beside him. "Sunstreaker why did you do that?! Are you alright Sideswipe?"

He sat up and scowled at his brother, only to suddenly turn towards me with a smirk. "You don't have to call me by my full designation Princess."

"What?"

"Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are such long designations to say. It would be easier if you just called me Sides."

"Don't you dare Sides." Sunstreaker growled dangerously.

Sideswipe only grinned wider. "And you can call him Sunny. That's what I call him."

"Sunny?" I murmured to myself quietly.

In a sudden move Sunstreaker jumped up and slammed his fist into Sideswipe's helm harshly.

 **BAM!**

"OW! WHAT THE FRAG WAS THAT FOR?" Sidewipe yelped as he cradled his helm with both servos.

"BECAUSE YOU TOLD HER THAT SPARKLING NICKNAME! WHY DID YOU DO THAT WHEN YOU KNOW I HATE IT?!"

"Awww Sunny! Don't you want Princess to call you Sunny?" Sideswipe taunted his brother as he dodged another punch from him.

"NO!"

I watched in complete shock as Sunstreaker started chasing Sideswipe around my living room, prompting Sparky to become agitated and pounce on the latter, who screamed as my little stream glider started scratching his face all over again, and then fell onto the floor which allowed Sunstreaker to jump on him and start beating him up.

Which caused Sparky to turn and jump onto my mechfriend's face and deliver a small but potent shock to his face, in turn causing him to convulse for an astrosecond or so, before he keeled over backwards and onto the floor.

All I could do for a klik or so was stare at them, Sideswipe moaning about his helm, and Sunstreaker grumbling about Sparky shocking him again. I shook it off and slowly made my way over to where they were laying. "Sideswipe are you okay?"

"Yeah. And stop calling me Sideswipe please. Just say Sides Princess."

I paused for a moment. "Sides."

He grinned at me. "I like the way that sounds when you say it Princess."

"Sunstreaker? Are you okay?"

"Call him Sunny." Sides demanded cheerfully.

Sunstreaker just kicked him again. "Please don't call me that."

I pulled Sparky off of him at the same moment that Sides started singing obnoxiously.

"Sunny! Sunny! Sunny! He's a giant ball of grumpy sunshine! Sunny! Sunny! Mr. Sunny to you!"

The mech in question was glaring at the ceiling. "I hate that nickname!"

Against my better judgement I giggled at him, causing his optics to shoot up to my face. Once they did a blush crept to my cheeks. "Well... I think it's kind of... cute."

A startled scream escaped me when Sideswipe's helm suddenly appeared in my peripheral vision, frightening me so badly that I tripped and fell on top of Sunstreaker. "Did you hear that Sunny? Princess thinks it's cute!"

The chassis I was laying against rumbled with a growl. "Shut it Sides."

"Sunny and Princess sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love-!"

"DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAN SING THAT STUPID EARTH SONG?!"

"Nope. But I'm sure there are better things that you could be doing..."

I blushed at the implications even though neither of them could see it since my face was buried into Sunstreaker's chassis. "S-Shut up!"

"Speaking of... I should probably let you two hang out alone..."

I popped back up in time to see him making his way towards my door. "W-Wait! Y-You don't have to leave yet!"

"Trust me it's best that I leave while I can." What was up with that cryptic response? Before I could ask he was gone, and I was left alone with Sunstreaker. Who hadn't moved or said a single word since yelling at his brother.

When I looked down at him I realized quite suddenly that I was straddling his sodpiece, and that he was doing nothing to push me off. I squeaked and scrambled off of him anyways, holding my servos over my chassis as it heaved with each labored vent.

He stood up with a rumble of amusement. "So what do you want to do now that we're alone?"

Innuendo practically oozed from those words. "I-I, um," Think of something Athena! Think of something! "wh-what do you want to do Sunny?"

He froze in his spot.

Oh scrap! I called him Sunny! "Um... f-forget that I said that!"

After a moment his face morphed into a devious smirk. "What do I get if I give you permission to call me that?"

My door wings hitched as I grew more nervous. "I... don't have to call you that..."

He stalked closer still. "Answer the question. What do I get if I let you call me that?"

Just looking at him gave me an idea of what he wanted... "What do you want?"

"You."

A shaky exhale rattled my vents as my frame warmed before I could think better of it. There was just something about this mech that was harder to resist the longer I knew him. Even so I couldn't find it in me at the moment to be as forward as I had the other night.

He caged me in against the wall, leaning down until his face was almost touching mine. "Well? Can I have you right now if I agree to let you call me that?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "O-k..."

"I hoped you'd say that..." He purred.

Looks like I got to call him Sunny from now on...

And it was worth the price I paid for it...

* * *

R&R!


	14. Chapter 14: Can I Call You Ati?

Another early update for you guys! Some Sides/Athena interaction in this one! They need to have their moments otherwise nothing will ever progress! So they're going to be spending some time together in this one! I know that things are going really fast, but there will be twists later. This story will earn its rating! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Something about me seemed different.

Every morning when I looked at myself in the mirror something just seemed off. But I could never put a name on what it was, nor could I point it out.

Maybe I looked different?

I certainly felt a little more confident lately. Was it a result of having an attractive mechfriend? Or the things that the two of us did together?

I blushed as I thought of the few times we had been together intimately. Those moments were things that I never thought I would have the courage to go through with after... But I had, together we had. And those moments were amazing.

The best part was that he still came back to me every day, and it wasn't only to take more. Sometimes we just spent time together watching TV or talking about our art. He didn't push me to frag every single time he came over just because I'd given it to him already.

Not that he never made it known that he wanted it, but he respected me when I wasn't up for it. I think... I was falling I love with him... That thought was a little scary and intimidating, because I had no idea if he felt anything for me to the same degree. And I'd never been in this situation before, so I was afraid to tell him.

I was afraid of pushing too much and forcing him away if I told him and he wasn't ready to hear it.

That and I wasn't really sure what romantic love felt like. A few times I had thought to ask Danni, but she was still making death threats at Sunstreaker for interfacing with me. So asking her wasn't an option at the current time. I could ask Opi, since he was being more supportive so far, but...

"Maybe now's not the time to think about things like that?" I murmured to myself as I turned away from the mirror and walked out of my wash racks. "Do you want some sweet energon pellets Sparky?" I asked as I let him out of his cage.

He jumped up onto my shoulder and clicked at me as I walked into the prep room to grab his treats. His helm tilted to the side and he clicked at me when I only grabbed his treats and nothing else.

"I'm going to go get some energon at the cafe." I answered him while I poured some pellets into his dish.

Hopefully word Sunny and I dating hadn't spread to Zenarith or anybot else at the cafe. By that I meant Stormstream or whatever her designation was, because she liked to hassle me every time I came in when she was working.

After placing Sparky and his treat bowl back in the cage, I gently petted his helm. "You be good until I get back. No chewing on the couch!"

With that I turned and made my way out of my unit, locking the door before turning to make my way out of the building. But I didn't make it any farther than the steps outside before I froze at the sight of Sideswipe leaning against a street lamp in front of my building.

What was he doing here? Sunstreaker was working so obviously he wasn't looking for his brother...

"Sideswipe? W-What are y-you doing here?" I stammered horribly, and just when I thought that I might be passed that habit. Guess not.

He pushed himself off of the street lamp with a smirk. "Why I came to see you of course!"

My optic ridges furrowed as my confusion spiked. He came to see me? Why? "Um, w-why?"

"Because I wanted to get to know my brother's femme."

I ducked my helm down as a blush crept to my cheeks. "Oh..."

His peds appeared in my vision, causing me to look up at his smirking face. One thing that I definitely noticed was that Sideswipe looked a lot like his brother, meaning he was incredibly good looking too. Of course as soon as I thought that I ducked my helm in embarrassment again. What was I doing thinking that?

"Where are you off to Princess?"

"I w-as going to the cafe."

"Mind if I tag along?"

"Sure."

"Cool. C'mon then."

With that said he turned and started walking down the sidewalk, forcing me to scramble to keep up with him. I walked beside him quietly, door wings twitching every now and then from nervousness as they often did when I was around a new bot.

"So... do you work today?"

"It's my d-day off..."

He smirked. "Wanna hang out until Sunny gets off shift?"

"Um, you want t-to hang out with m-me?"

"Of course I do! I wanna get to know you!"

Well wasn't that strange? Most bots took one look at me and deemed me not worth the time. Besides Sunny of course, but that was more caused by the fact that we kept bumping into each other without meaning to. I was glad that it had happened though.

"Ok."

"Awesome! So what do you wanna do after we refuel?"

I blinked widely. "I... don't know..."

He hummed thoughtfully. "Well... after we refuel we could go back to your place and game some?"

"Sure."

"Maybe we could stop by my place first so I can pick up some games that you might not have played yet?"

"Ok."

"Cool."

Conversation stopped as we entered the cafe, Sides holding the door for me to go in first, before he followed me over to the booth where Sunny and I usually sat. We plopped down on opposite sides of the booth and waited for a waitress to come take our order.

Sides looked around the place curiously. "Wow... homey place. I've never actually been, though I've seen it a few times over the bond."

"Sunny?" I asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yeah. He likes this place because it's not quite as busy as most restaurants. You know how much he likes other bots."

Not very much...

"So what's good here?"

"Uhh... I like their spiced or sweet energon, a-and the rust cake is good."

His optics brightened. "Rust cake... Sounds good!"

I stared at him awkwardly while he continued looking over the menu. How was he so cheerful and upbeat all the time? So open and able to converse so freely with others? With me I stuttered incessantly until I eventually became comfortable enough with somebot that I wasn't so nervous, and even then it came and went.

But Sides didn't have any problem. The first time he met me he nearly chatted my audios off!

Something waved back and forth in front of my face, snapping me out of the daze I was in. "Y-Yes?"

He smirked. "You were staring at me."

"Sorry... I w-was just... thinking about something..."

"I figured." Then he leaned forward on his elbows, invading my space a little bit. "So what were you thinking about?"

I blushed again, but couldn't manage to say anything to answer that question.

"C'mon Princess... I'm not gonna bite your helm off or anything."

"I... I was just... thinking that i-it must be nice... to be a-able to speak so freely..."

He looked at me in surprise. "It's not that hard Princess."

"Not for you..."

"You can do it too I'm sure."

Before he had even gotten halfway through that sentence I was shaking my helm at him. "N-No I can't."

"You talk normal to Sunny." He pointed out.

"Yes but... I've k-known him for a while."

"Not too long though."

That was true. I had only known him for a few deca-cycles and I was already mostly comfortable with him. Enough that I could speak to him without stuttering most of the time, but occasionally it still happened.

"Look how about we get to know each other a little more? That way you can be more comfortable with me?"

I just nodded at him.

"Oh hold on a klik!" He muttered as the same pale pink waitress came up to our table.

"What can I get you two?"

"Sweet energon and a slice of the rust stick cake."

So he liked sweet energon and Sunny liked spiced more... Interesting. "I'll have the same."

"I'll have it out in a breem or so."

With that she turned and left us, prompting Sides to turn back towards me with a look of excitement in his optics. "Ok so how about I tell you some stuff about me? That way we can kind of break the ice."

"What's ice?"

His optics widened. "You don't know what ice is?"

"No..."

"It's water that's been frozen into a solid form. It comes from Earth."

"What's water?"

"A type of liquid... think of matter that has a consistency of oil, but is even less thick and instead it's clear."

"Oh..." That sounded really weird.

"Yeah... Anyways the term breaking the ice, pretty much means getting passed all the tension ok? When I said it I meant that I wanted us to get more comfortable with each other. That's all."

"I understand."

"Good! So how about you ask me anything you want and I'll answer it as truthfully as I can. Sound good?"

It was a better alternative than him asking me questions and making me faint from having to answer them... "Ok."

He leaned back against the booth seat. "Awesome! Go on and ask me something then!"

Now that brought up a new topic for me to think about... What to ask him? What did I want to know? A lot actually but some of it I knew I wouldn't have the nerve to ask him. Should I ask him about his sparklinghood? From my own experiences I knew that could be a sensitive subject, then again their younglinghood could have been good. Then again maybe it wasn't... Maybe asking where they grew up was a better question.

"W-Where did you and Sunny grow up?"

"Kaon."

That wasn't an answer I was expecting. New Kaon wasn't the best place to live now, but it was far better than how it used to be before the war. "It must have... been rough growing up there..."

"It was. But we made it through."

"I'm g-glad you d-did." Otherwise I wouldn't have met Sunny...

"Awww thanks Princess! We're glad we met you too!"

I blushed and ducked my helm in embarrassment, at the same moment that the waitress brought our orders out and sat them down in front of us. My servos flashed across the surface of the table, gathering up my cube and plate before Sides could even move a micron.

"Frag you're fast..." He muttered as he grabbed his portion of the order and started drinking his energon.

I tried smiling but failed miserably. "Sorry..."

"Nah, don't worry about it. Just forget about it and keep asking questions."

What else to ask him? "Um, what kind of... games do you like?"

"Anything and everything... except logic and strategy games. Those things bore the slag outta me. Don't know how Prowl can sit there at his desk all day playing them."

"They are kind of boring..." I agreed as I shoveled some rust cake into my mouth.

He smirked. "Definitely. COV is my main thing right now, but I do play some other games on occasion."

"Me too..."

He grinned wider. "See? Talking isn't so hard is it?"

Yes. Yes it was. But with him he made me feel comfortable enough to not freeze up. He just had this aura about him that made him inviting... he must be quite the femmes mech.

I just shrugged in response.

Prompting him to lean forward again. "So... can I ask you some questions?"

That made me a little nervous... "C-Can I pass if I don't want to answer it?"

"Sure. But I'll do my best not to be really invasive. Deal?"

It was only fair. "Ok..."

"Where did you grow up?"

Why did he have to ask me that? My past was one thing that I really didn't want to talk about. "Pass."

He blinked at me. "That question isn't hard to answer."

The fork I was holding dented from the pressure of my servo squeezing down on it, caused by the overwhelming emotions thinking about my past invoked in me. "I don't want to talk about it."

At least he seemed to take the hint. "Ok. Well... where did you get Sparky at?"

I nearly sighed in relief at the shift in topic. Sparky was much easier to talk about. "I found him on the street. He's been with me ever since."

He pursed his lips as his optics flashed deviously. "I want him."

The drink I just took nearly ended up being spat all over his face, instead I swallowed too fast and nearly choked on the energon. "What?!"

He laughed. "I said I want him. But I know that'll never happen."

Frag no it wouldn't! Sparky had been with me through some very hard times! No way was I ever going to give him up! "No."

Grin widening even more, he leaned forward and clasped his servos together. "Do you know if there's anywhere I can get one?"

I blinked in surprise. "Um... is Sunny going to be ok with that?"

He waved my question off. "He'll live. So where can I get one?"

"He's going to be angry if I tell you isn't he?"

"Absolutely. But I won't tell him that you told me. All I have to do is say that I checked the adds or something."

I bit my lip while thinking it over. What harm could it really do to tell him? "Well I know that they sell them at the pet store that I go to when I get Sparky's supplies." It never even occurred to me that I was now talking normally, without stuttering.

Until he decided to point it out. "You're not stuttering anymore."

"Wha-?"

He smirked. "You're not stuttering anymore. See? Talking is easy!"

My jaw dropped as soon as I realized he was right. "I..." But I couldn't really say anything to that.

"So how do you feel about coming with me to the pet store after we're done here?"

Wow he was really being serious about it... Then I realized what he had asked me and I froze, door wings hiking up higher on my shoulders. "Um, you want me to come with you?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Before he could answer me a Polyhexian femme that I'd never seen before walked up to our table. She was decorated in a pale yellow paint, with light pink stripes down her sides. Her optics were a bright blue, and she had claws on her peds and servos.

"Sideswipe? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey Moonstreak."

Moonstreak seemed to notice me at that exact moment, optics narrowing on my form. "Oh? Who's this?"

"This is Sunny's femmefriend, Athena. We were just here refueling before we go back to her place to hang out."

If looks could kill I was pretty sure that the glare she gave me would be enough to make me self combust on the spot. She looked positively murderous! "I didn't know that Sunstreaker had a femmefriend."

"Yup. He's been with her for a while now."

She looked me over disdainfully, before she turned towards him and ran a servo down his arm with a purr. "So... what happened to you comming me for a get together over a quartex ago? You never got in touch with me..." She leaned down so that her large chassis was directly in his line of vision. "I've really missed you..."

I swear that I blushed almost as hard as I did the one time that I walked in on my creators fragging when I was younger. Was she really asking him that right in front of me?

"Something came up and I couldn't get around to it."

She pouted. "Well... how about tonight? I'm free."

My spark pulsed hard for some reason, making me feel anxious.

"Sorry Moon. I'm going to be really busy for a while, so I won't have time."

Que another death glare in my direction. Why? I had no idea.

She slid closer to me and hissed, causing me to slide back in the booth to put some space between us. Not only was I too timid to respond to her obvious aggression, but fighting with civilians was frowned upon in the Autobot ranks so I ended up with my back against the window while she stood there poised to jump me.

"Who do you think you are?" She snarled at me.

"Me? What the pit did I do?"

"How dare you!"

What the pit did I do? Seriously!

Luckily Sides pushed her away before she could pounce on me. "Stop Moon. Athena didn't do anything to you!"

"She took you from me!"

I gasped. "No I did not!"

Why did every femme I ran into when I was with him or his brother, automatically assume that I took them from her? Sideswipe wasn't even involved with me in any way other than the fact that I was dating his brother!

He got in between us before things could escalate. "Nobot took me from you Moon. I'm just not interested in you anymore."

"WHAT?!" She shrieked.

Everything in the restaurant stopped dead at that moment, so it was easy to hear what he said to her next.

"I don't want to meet up with you anymore. I don't want to frag you. I don't want to date you. I want nothing from you from this point on."

The silence was pierced by an audio piercing shriek of pure anger, and then Moonstreak was racing out of the cafe screeching like somebot was murdering her. Leaving me laying against the window, watching with wide optics.

Sides turned towards me after the sound had faded. "Are you okay?"

"I... What... was that...?"

He smirked. "A femme who just got turned down."

I blinked at him. "Yes I got that."

He held a servo out for me. "We should get outta here."

For a moment I hesitated to take it.

"C'mon Princess. We still have to stop at the pet store before going to my place."

After hesitating for a moment I took his servo so that he could help me up, and then we made our way out of the cafe and onto the street. My processor running over everything that had just happened. Sideswipe had just turned that femme down... He could have just ditched me to go with her, but he chose to stay with me instead... Why?

"So which way is the pet store?" He asked once we were outside.

Oh right... "Follow me."

Together we walked through downtown New Iacon, with him chatting almost nonstop about things I couldn't even begin to follow. Or more like I was too distracted with the almost fight in the cafe, and everything that had been said throughout...

These two mechs had a lot of former lovers all over the place!

"Ati?"

I almost tripped over my own peds, whipping around so fast that my helm spun, and the move startled him. "Did you just call me Ati?"

"Yeah. Sunny calls you Athe sometimes... I figured I could call you Ati."

My spark fluttered faintly, sending a burst of heat to my cheeks. Was he seriously giving me nicknames already?

"Uh... If you're not ok with it I don't have to call you that."

I shook my helm. "No. No that's ok. You just surprised me is all..."

He grinned. "Cool... Ati it is... or Princess..."

"I could do without the Princess bit..."

"Too bad. I like calling you that."

Surprisingly enough, that comment aggravated me a little bit.

And he seemed to notice. "Oooh somebot can get feisty... I never would've thought you had it in you."

A small growl worked its' way out of my vocalizer before I could stop it, and as soon as it did I squeaked and practically ran down the street without looking back! Did I really just growl at him?!

"Ati wait for me!"

I ducked my helm as I burst into the ped store, running passed the few bots inside.

"Hey!"

Something gripped my upper arm and tugged me to a stop. I looked over my shoulder shamefully.

Sides was just staring at me, but he didn't look mad like I expected. "What's wrong?"

I jerked my arm away and backed towards the shelves. "I'm sorry!"

He stopped coming towards me and frowned instead. "Sorry for what?"

"I growled at you!"

"It's ok Ati. No harm done."

No harm done? The last time I actually growled at a mech it didn't end well for me! That moment, and all the others like it, came racing back as soon as I realized what I had done! How could I growl at Sunstreaker's brother?

"Sunny's gonna maim me for upsetting you..." He sighed. "I'm not mad or anything Princess."

I cupped my servos over my chassis to calm myself down, or try to. It took me quite a few kliks to stop the frantic rattling of my vents. "I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it! It's all okay."

No it wasn't ok... I growled at him and scared myself because of it... All because he was just being friendly and it aggravated me and I lost control of my emotions...

"Please calm down. I'm not mad at you I promise." He repeated quietly.

We just stared at each other for another few kliks, him just standing there with his servos held up in a placating gesture, until I finally calmed down some. If he was going to hit me he'd have done so already...

I sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Sideswipe..."

"There's no reason to be sorry. I should have respected you when you asked me not to call you Princess."

"No it's ok, I overreacted when I shouldn't have. You can call me either if you want."

His optics stayed locked with mine, like he was making sure that I was serious. After a moment or two he smiled brightly. "Awesome! So... wanna look at the stream gliders now?"

The brightness of his smile momentarily stunned me... He practically radiated happiness and it surprised me! I'd never seen a bot smile like that, other than Bee or Blue maybe. "Um, sure."

In a flash he grabbed me by the servo and started dragging me through the store. "Cool. Let's go."

I was too stunned by the fact that he had actually grabbed me, and that his grip felt as warm, but more gentle than his brother's, to even think to pull myself free from his grasp. So I let him lead me around until we made it to the cages where they were keeping the stream gliders.

The store had several in stock in each, all of which were relatively the same size for the most part. Sides let go of my servo and pressed his face against the glass as he looked them over.

There were orange gliders, yellow, green, blue, brown... All different kinds to choose from. Maybe now would be a good time to get Sparky a friend? Then again maybe not at the moment... No I should wait for a time when I had a few days off to get them acclimated to each other, enough that I felt comfortable leaving them alone. It could be a trucky business.

Besides, we were here to get Sides one. Not me.

Speaking of... "Do you see any you like?"

He turned towards me contemplatively. "They're all cool."

Well that didn't help us at all... "Do you want a mech or a femme?"

"I'm not sure. Are there any big differences between the two?"

"Yes. Mechs tend to be more aggressive and territorial, while the femmes normally act like that when nesting only. Both can be vocal when looking for a mate, but the mechs also tend to emit a louder and more shrill mating call. Femmes do it too, but it's more like... a soft chirp instead of a full on cry. Which is kind of strange considering the femmes have a stronger zap, but the mechs are more likely to reach that level of aggression first."

What else...? What else?

"Oh... and both mark their territory by rubbing their helms on things, scratching, or chewing them."

By the time I finished he was looking back into the cages again. "Why do the femmes have a stronger zap?"

"Because both are resistant to electricity, yet it's their greatest defense, so a femme has to have a stronger zap to break through that defense when a mech she doesn't want is pursuing her."

"Ah... like a bitch slap."

"Excuse me? What's a bitch?"

He suddenly threw his helm back and laughed out loud.

"What? Did I say something weird?"

"No. No not at all... It's just that bitch is a word used on Earth, that is pretty much the same thing as calling somebot a glitch here."

My jaw dropped as I sputtered in embarrassment. "Primus! You and your brother need to sotp using cuss words from Earth around me! Otherwise I'll be walking around all day saying them and not even realize I'm cussing!"

He laughed all over again. "Sorry! Let's just drop the subject for another time ok? How about we focus on picking one of these little guys out so that we can get to my place before Sunny comes home? If we have everything set up it might help us argue when he says I can't keep it."

Somehow I really doubted that...

Whatever the case I looked into the cages and perused the different stream gliders climbing about on their winding crystal trees. They were all so cute...

But the one that I liked most was a tiny one that was a light green and blue. She was cute...

"This one is cute Sides."

He scooted over to see what I was seeing. "Yeah it is."

"She is..."

He smirked. "She is..."

The little femme stood up on her hind legs and cocked her little helm at us, audios twitching side to side curiously. Aww! She was absolutely adorable!

"I like her."

"Me too."

"Then it's settled! I'll get that one!"

I smiled gently. "Ok."

He quickly fetched a worker to round up the little femme and put her into a carrier to keep at the front of the store for us until we were finished shopping. While they held her I led Sides through the store so that he could get her a nice cage, some artificial crystal branches for her to climb on, a nesting box, some bedding, food, toys, and anything else she might need.

After we finished that, he paid for everything and we finally left the store.

Sides wouldn't stop beaming at his little pet the whole way back to his housing unit.

Now we just had to deal with his brother...

Sunny could hardly tolerate Sparky... How would he react when he came home and his brother had bought one without him knowing?

Did that pet store allow returns...?

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Primus today just dragged on... Comms shift first thing, then double patrol shift because somebot had called in. So I got roped into taking over, and now it was so late that there was no light left in the sky...

To make matters worse I knew Sides had done something that I wasn't going to be pleased with. Whenever he did I could feel his amusement and deviousness practically exploding through our bond... like right now...

Maybe I should stop and see Athena for a bit before I went home? She could help me relax...

Sides told me he hung out with her today, but surely she was home by now? It couldn't hurt to comm her to make sure.

 **(No need bro! Princess is hanging out with me at our place.)**

 **(Still?)**

 **(Yeah! We were having a game night! You're free to join when you get here.)**

 **(Oh joy... Just how I wanted to spend the rest of my night...)**

 **(Well then I guess it's a good thing I thought of it!)** He quipped cheerfully.

I just growled and ignored him for the rest of the trek back to our place. Since it was faster I had opted to drive, so I made it back within a breem at most. Not that it stopped me from freezing as soon as I made it inside...

Because the first thing I took in was the huge aft cage sitting in the corner next to the couch... One that looked exactly like the one Athena had in her apartment, only it was white not black.

My brother and femme were kneeling in front of said cage, talking in hushed tones to something inside it... I didn't need to guess what it was.

"What. The. Frag. Is. That?"

They both whipped around to stare at me standing in the entryway. Sides was the first to react, while Athena seemed too nervous to say or do anything. "It's my new pet stream glider Topaz!"

"You went out and got a stream glider?!" I growled.

"Yup!"

My optics narrowed into a glare. "Sides! You didn't even talk to me before bringing that thing in here!"

He crossed his arms across his chassis and scowled at me. "Because you would've said no!"

"Of course I would have! I said no pets when we bought this place!"

"But I want a pet! I pay half the bills so I should be able to have things I want!"

"No pets Sides! They tear garniture apart and I don't want my easels getting damaged!"

"But Sunny!"

"NO! GET RID OF IT!"

"NO!"

I was so tempted to throttle him right now! Scratch that! I was going to throttle him!

But then Athena stepped in front of him. "There's no reason to fight!"

"No reason to fight?! This is my home too Athena! I have a right to know in advance about anything that could affect me and my space!"

She clasped her servos together and looked at me pleadingly. "That's true. But could you give it a chance for your brother?"

"No!"

Sides leaned down and whispered something in her audio.

And her face exploded in a deep sapphire blush. "NO! I AM NOT DOING THAT!"

My twin snickered at her. "Why not?"

"What did you say to her Sides?"

He shrugged. "I told her to use her femme wiles to persuade you to let me keep Topaz."

I scowled at him as what he was saying registered. "You told her to seduce me didn't you?"

Athena squeaked as the color faded from her face and she fell to the floor in a dead faint.

Sides knelt down next to her. "I CALL CPR!"

One of my servos locked around his audio horn and yanked until he was forced to get up. "NO YOU DON'T!"

He pouted. "But it's not fair that you get to kiss her and I don't!"

"She'd freak out if she woke up and you were doing CPR on her! She probably doesn't even know what that is! Besides I'm dating her!"

"I could too..."

I sighed and slapped a servo on his shoulder. "Give her some time first ok? Once she warms up to you maybe we can tell her about the whole... twin thing..."

And pray that she wouldn't run screaming when we did tell her... Since most bots were superstitious of twins due to old legends. Most of which had all been disproven, yet the fear still lingered.

Just about the only thing we were good for in the optics of other bots, was being good looking frag toys. At least that was something we had been able to use to our advantage all our lives.

I shook those thoughts off and placed Athena's limp form on the couch.

"Do you think she'll give us both a chance? Or will she run away?"

The thought of her running away when we told her... Why did it make me so afraid to take the chance?

 **(Because you love her.)**

I froze. **(Love her? No... it's too...)**

 **(It's never too soon to fall in love Sunny. Sometimes it just happens and you don't even realize it.)**

Did I really... love her? I'd never been in love before so how could I know?

 **(But I have been in love before remember? I know what it feels like, and bro you're projecting it pretty strongly lately. I wasn't even this into Sol, and I know I loved her. What you feel for Ati is even stronger.)**

Was that what the feelings of protectiveness, affection, and overwhelming desire stemmed from? Love? How could I have let myself fall so hard?

 **(Maybe it was just meant to happen? But maybe you should ask yourself if you're really that upset about it?)**

 **(I... I'm not... It's just... This is more your area than mine...)**

 **(It's not anybot's area, it's everybot's area. We can't help falling sometimes, but we can control how we act after realizing that fact. I guess it all depends on whether you want to make something real with her or not. If you do decide you want to I'm all for it. What you feel I feel to an extent, and I already like her a lot myself and I haven't even known her that long.)**

Make something real with Athena?

Like... actually courting her and... possibly sparkbonding?

The thought was beyond foreign to me. I'd never thought of anything more than how to get a femme into my berth, then how to get rid of her as fast as possible. But that was before Athena, and I didn't always know how to react to what was happening between us.

I didn't know how to react to what was going on right now...

 **(Just give it some time Sunny. Let her come closer on her own, and we can go from there. There's no need to rush right now.)**

 **(Right... no need to rush into anything... She'll be here for a while regardless...)**

And we could figure out what to do one step at a time...

I just hoped that it didn't all get fragged up like everything else did...

* * *

R&R!


	15. Chapter 15: You Make Me Feel Beautiful

Decided to do more than one update in a day! Hope you all enjoy it! I almost laughed at the end of the last chapter. Sides? Be patient? Yeah right. That mech wouldn't know patient if it slapped him in the face. And of course it'll cause some trouble sooner or later. Anyways... I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

How exactly did I get roped into keeping Topaz for Sides?

Oh right... my mechfriend threw a fit within a day of Sides having her, because she got loose when Sides was cleaning her cage and chewed on one of his paintbrushes. I heard all about it when Sunny showed up at my place with a cage-full of little stream glider, and asked me to keep her so that Sides would stop pouting about him possibly killing her.

So that was how I ended up with a friend for Sparky.

And it was also how I ended up seeing Sides at least once a day for a few joors. He always made sure to stop by to see how she was doing, and help with her general care.

We ended up spending quite a lot of time together as a result.

I was learning a lot about him too.

Such as the fact that he was a professional prankster, which I learned after he set a paint trap for Sunny to walk into after coming to my place after work. Let's just say that my mechfriend was not at all happy to be painted green and brown. I thought that there was going to be a full on brawl in the middle of my living room.

Luckily I was able to stop it by offering Sunny full use of my wash racks, and some paint to touch up any spots.

Just seeing some of the things Sideswipe had done made me thankful that he wasn't targeting me yet. It was also a good thing that he wasn't involving me in setting them up... so far...

Anyways, he came over after work today to work with Topaz some more. It had only been a quartex or so since he had picked her up from the pet store, and so far she was very skittish, especially around Sides since he could be very loud. It was just because he got excited about things very easily.

We had just finished cleaning both cages, and now Sides was trying to get Topaz to let him pet her. It wasn't working out very well.

"C'mon Topaz... Come over here and let me pet you!"

I stood just behind him with Sparky sitting on my shoulder, watching the way he was trying to reach for her, which sent her scurrying away every time. "Um, Sides?"

He turned to look at me with a frustrated pout. "Yes?"

"That's not going to work."

"Well what do I do then?"

I placed Sparky down on the couch, before kneeling down next to him. "It won't happen in one day Sides, you have to work slowly and earn her trust. She's a cyber-animal, meaning she follows instinct over reason."

He blinked at me in confusion. "So... how do I get her to trust me then?"

"Hold on one klik!" I stood up and grabbed some pellet treats from the cabinet, then I walked back over to kneel on the floor beside him again. "You use these." I gestured to the treats in my servo.

"Treats? But we feed her those all the time and she still won't come any closer!"

So impatient... "You have to do it in steps Sides. The first step is having some contact with them daily, that's why we clean their cages and refill their dishes. It gets them used to being in proximity to us. The second step is using these treats! What you do is hold them in your servo, put it in their cage, and let them come to you if they want to. You may have to do it a few times a day, over the course of a few quartexes to make some progress."

"Quartexes? That's too looooong." He whined.

"Trust is built over time Sides. It's not something that just happens overnight. How about we just try it?"

He pouted, but took the treats from me and put his servo in the cage. Topaz just looked at it, but didn't come any closer to him.

"C'mon Topaz..."

"Shh! Be quiet and let her come to you!"

Another klik passed and nothing happened.

And another...

And another...

And another...

Still nothing, and Sides was practically vibrating in his armor from impatience. "Topaz..."

I sighed. "She can sense how tense and agitated you are Sides. You have to be patient with her otherwise you'll never get anywhere."

He slumped dejectedly. "How long did it take you to tame Sparky?"

"It was pretty quick, but that was because I found him on the brink of offlining and nursed him back to health. So he knew I was trustworthy. With Topaz you're going to have to work slowly."

He just continued sulking.

"Why don't I try?"

"Ok."

I took the treats from him and slid my servo in through the opening, and waited patiently for Topaz to do something. Unlike Sides I didn't twitch or tense, and I wasn't projecting any emotions through my EM field.

I just sat there patiently. Waiting...

But after a klik or so Topaz slowly scuttled down from the higher branch she was on.

"She's coming..."

"Shhh!" I shushed him as she climbed down to a branch that was on relatively the same level as my servo. From there she approached my limb even more cautiously, sniffing and clicking at me.

She froze just short of my servo, staring at the treats longlingly.

Then she surprised me by climbing onto my servo and plucking up a pellet to nibble on.

Sides' jaw dropped. "She came to you..."

It surprised me too but I figured it was because Sides was too tense for her comfort. "I'm being calm, and you're not."

"Am too!" He whispered harshly.

"Are not."

He stuck his glossa out at me childishly. "Meanie."

A bubble of amusement built up in my chassis, making me giggle at him. "You're being ridiculous right now."

A wide smirk curled at the edges of his lips. "You'll learn to love it Princess."

And just that one comment made me go from giggling, to blushing in the matter of an astrosecond. Why did he always say things like that to me? Sunny wasn't kidding when he told me Sides was a major flirt. It was like he never stopped for a klik.

Luckily for me my door alarm went off at that moment.

I quickly put Topaz back on one of her perches, then hurried to answer the door.

Sunny was standing there when I opened it. "Come in Sunny."

He stepped passed the threshold and leaned down to kiss me real quick. "Is Sides still here?"

"Yes. He's currently pouting because Topaz won't come to him."

He rolled his optics as I led him into the living room. "He's such a sparkling about stuff."

"Am not!" Sides pouted as we made our way over to where he was still kneeling in front of Topaz's cage.

Sunny smacked him on the helm before sitting on the couch. "Yes you are."

Sides got up and plopped down on his brother's left side, which left his right open for me to occupy. "Am not!"

I settled into the curve of Sunny's side, watching the two bicker as they were prone to doing. It was kind of funny to watch.

"You do act like a sparkling about everything most of the time!"

"I do not! You act like a grumpy old scraplet about everything! Haven't you ever heard of trying to have fun?"

"I do know how to have fun!"

"Yeah right! Sitting in front of a canvas all day every day isn't fun! It's called moderation Sunny!"

"You don't even know what moderation means idiot! Why don't you try doing something other than playing video games all day every day! And you say that I can't moderate my time!"

"I do other things! Like pranking bots on base! And now I hang out with Athena a lot!"

I blinked at the last bit, which I did not expect. Well I guess it was kind of true, since he did seem to be spending a lot of time with me lately.

"I guess it's better than what you used to do." Sunny grumbled sourly.

To which Sides just shrugged. "I have a reason not to do that anymore."

Now I was completely and utterly lost. "What are you two talking about?"

Both whipped around in surprise, looking like they actually forgot I was sitting here with them. Primus... I knew that I stood out about as much as a pile of scrap, but still... was I really that easy to forget about?

Sides smiled sheepishly. "Nothing important Princess."

My optics slowly slid over to Sunny who just nodded.

Obviously I was missing something...

But Sides quickly plucked up my game controllers and handed one to me. "Let's game a bit!"

"Ok..."

He quickly loaded up COV and we started playing some demolition. At least we were on the same team so I didn't have to listen to him whining about me killing him. Sunny just sat there between us, watching us silently.

"So Athena..."

"Hmm?"

"Why is your avatar purple?"

I quickly shot down an enemy player, while I thought that question over. The answer was that I always wanted to be purple instead of white, but I lacked the confidence to think that I could pull the color off. So I kept my plain white and gold coloration.

Sides turned towards me as soon as the match ended and we were put back into the lobby.

And now Sunny was staring at me too.

It made me nervous... "I just... like the color."

"But you're white." Sunny pointed out.

"Yes I am."

"Why not just make your avatar white and gold then? Instead of purple and gold?" Sides pressed curiously.

"I like the purple." I repeated.

"Well then why aren't you painted purple?"

And my mechfriend had to go and ask me that...

I sighed as my door wings slumped down in dejection. "I just... never have..."

"Why not? It would look good with your gold chevron and accents."

"Well... I just can't..." That was the best response I could manage at the moment.

They both raised an optic ridge at me simultaneously. "You can't? That makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense."

"How does that make sense? You just can't paint yourself purple... because...?"

I scowled down at my lap. "I've always been white."

"Doesn't mean you can't change it up a little. Purple would look good on you."

"Sure..."

Sunny nudged me when I just continued staring at my lap, making me look up at his face. "If you like the color why don't you let me paint you?"

The blush that erupted across my cheeks was one of the most heated ones yet. "What?!"

"I said I can paint you if you want."

Him paint me? My frame wouldn't do any paint job he did justice. "I don't think I can..."

"Of course you can. It's as easy as laying down and letting me paint you."

I twisted my servos together nervously. "I know but, I don't think I can pull off a color like that."

They both looked at each other briefly, before Sunny got up and tugged me up from the couch and dragged me towards the door with Sides trailing along behind us.

"Where are we going?"

"To our place."

"Why?"

Sides bent down into my line of sight, grinning as usual. "Because Sunny has decided to give you a new paint job."

My jaw dropped as I simultaneously dug my peds into the floor just outside my door and fought his grip. "I don't think I want that!"

He swung back around and tossed me over his shoulder. "Yes you do."

With that I found myself being carted over his shoulder, all the way through the streets of downtown New Iacon, with Sides following along close behind and chatting at me nonstop. Could they be making any less of a scene?

The whole way there bots were just staring at us like Unicron himself was dancing in his protoform in the street! But no matter how much we were stared at he absolutely refused to put me down.

I ended up being toted all the way there like a sack of scrap metal...

"Was that really necessary?" I asked after he put me down in the entry way of their house.

"Yes. Now wait with Sides while I get some things from my studio."

With that he was up the stairs in a flash. Leaving me standing in the living room with Sides.

"WHAT SHADE OF PURPLE DO YOU WANT?!" He yelled from somewhere upstairs.

"Do I have to answer that?"

Sides grimaced. "If you don't he'll just pick whatever he likes best."

"I don't have to let him paint me."

"True... But I think he's a mech on a mission here, so he'll most likely succeed in painting you."

I crossed my arms across my chassis and plopped down on the couch with a huff. "No."

He raised an optic ridge at me. "No? I don't think-! Oh never mind! Sunny can explain why you're not allowed to say no."

At that moment my mechfriend came stomping into the room with a tarp, paint brushes, and several cans of paint. "I picked royal purple since you were being difficult about the whole thing." He commented, while he moved a few pieces of garniture to make a big enough space on the floor for the tarp.

I tensed when he turned and approached me. "Sunny..."

He stopped right in front of me and pointed at the tarp. "Lay on the tarp."

"No."

His features morphed into a scowl. "Athena I carried you all the way over here just to paint you, and I intend to."

I scooted back nervously. "I don't want to."

"If you didn't want to you wouldn't have made your avatar purple!"

"Lots of bots make their online avatars look completely different from them!" I argued.

Sides peeked over his brother's shoulder. "Yes, but studies have shown that a bot normally bases their online appearance on what they wish they looked like. So if you go off of that it's not a stretch to say that you would prefer to be purple."

"Studies aren't always right one hundred percent of the time!"

"True."

Sunny crossed his arms over his chassis and stared me down. "Athena lay down on the tarp!"

I shook my helm back and forth rapidly.

"Ok, how about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

He smirked. "I'll show you the painting of you that I'm working on, if you let me paint you."

That reminded me that I'd just finished the painting I was working on for him! But how dare he use it against me to make me do something I didn't want to do! "You're mean!"

He shrugged. "It's an art. So do we have a deal?"

In response to that question I stood and plopped down on my front on the tarp.

"I thought so..."

The sounds of paint cans being popped open, and the tarp rustling as he knelt down next to me preceded the first touch of a slight pressure on one of my door wings. It tickled, and I jerked and giggled before I could stop myself.

"Hold still."

Easier said than done! It fragging tickled!

My wings twitched wildly as he tried to paint them, forcing me to have to cup my mouth to stifle the giggles that were escaping.

"Sides a little help here?"

"On it."

The next thing I knew my wings were being held in a firm, yet gentle grip. I almost panicked, and I would have if the hold had been too tight or bordering on painful, but luckily Sides was very gentle with them. It was quite the surprise.

Not that it detracted from the sensations of the bristles tickling me wings...

If only I could stop laughing...

Please let this be over soon...

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

After a few groons I had managed to replace the white on Athena's frame with a rich royal purple. I left the gold parts of her original paint scheme intact, but I did add some swirling patterns to them as well.

It looked amazing on her.

She was standing on the tarp with her optics closed, waiting for the paint to finish drying. It was like she was afraid to look at herself or something.

In my opinion she looked even more beautiful now.

 **(She does. It might be one of your best works yet bro.)**

I was tempted to agree with him. Something about the shade I had chosen just offset perfectly with the brightly decorated gold accents. It was a damn fine job! Now if only she would open her optics and look at it!

"Athena you can open your optics you know?"

"Mm mm."

"Why not?"

She just shook her helm.

Why did this femme have to be so difficult?

Sides snickered. **(Because she's your femme! I like that she's starting to push your buttons a little!)**

 **(Shut up.)**

Our argument cut off when Athena chose that moment to peek an optic open and glance down at her armor. Then slowly the other slid open, and she brought her arms up to examine the gleaming purple paint. She brought the tips of her digits up to inspect the swirling gold tips.

I slowly approached her. "Do you like it?"

Her optics drifted up to my face. "Yes."

"See? I knew you would."

Sides grinned at her. "You do look very nice Ati."

A faint dusting of blue crept to her cheeks. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hey! Now you look just like your avatar!" He pointed out.

"No I don't." She grumbled. Then she took her servo and laid it flat over her helm. "I'm short."

"Short isn't bad."

"I'm not curvaceous either."

I sighed tiredly. "Yes you are. Just not to the point that I can't tell where your shoulders end and your aft begins."

"It's called being petite." Sides added on cheerfully.

Her door wings slumped as she scowled. "Being petite sucks."

"No it doesn't. At least Sunny can kiss you when he's-!"

I slapped Sides over the helm to stop that perverted comment from escaping his mouth. "What Sides is trying to say, is that there is a such thing as having too much chassis."

She blushed deeper. "I kind of got what he was implying... But do you have to tell him every detail about what we do in the berth?"

My twin only grinned wider and winked at her. "Sunny's bad at keeping details from me. I can take one look at him and just tell what dirty little acts he's done."

I glared at him. ( **Shut up Sides! Primus! At this rate she's going to start feeling uncomfortable around you! Then where will we be?)**

 **(My bad.)**

 **(Just try to have some self control! Please?)**

 **(I'll try my best but no promises, because I reeeeeally wanna kiss her!)**

Of course he did... because he was feeding off of my thoughts and emotions, and I wanted to do more than just kiss her most of the time.

 **(I actually just like her myself. We game together and she laughs at my jokes, but not that really annoying fake laugh that the femmes I normally bring home do.)**

 **(I figured. Just try taking it slow with her, because knowing you you'll suddenly plant one on her without warning... That would not be good, because we'll have to explain everything to her.)**

 **(I'll try to behave.)**

Try... Why did that one word make me nervous?

I would have thought on it more, but Athena started talking so I focused on what she was saying.

"You were supposed to show me that painting you're working on."

Oh that... "I did promise. Come on then." With that I turned and led her upstairs to my studio.

Pausing to stop in front of the door so that I could address her. "Same rules apply in my studio okay? No taking pictures of anything, or talking to anybot about what I'm working on."

She nodded. "I would never say a word to anybot."

"Good." I turned and unlocked the door before leading her into the barely illuminated room, stopping only to flip the light switch on and shut the door after us.

Athena slowly ambled farther in, optics drifting over all the paintings lining the walls, or sitting on my various easels. "Wow..." She murmured, before her focus shifted to the canvas sitting in the far corner.

I came to a stop behind her as she stood in front of it looking it over.

It was a picture of the way she looked that night in the crystal garden, shy, timid, cheeks alight with a fierce blush, and crystal blue optics sparkling. I was almost certain that she didn't realize just how beautiful her optics alone were. They were such a light shade of blue, almost white like a crystal, but then they darkened at the edges like waves of energy converging around a medium.

So beautiful...

Sides was right... I had it bad for her...

"Wow... Do I really look like that?" She whispered more to herself than me.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Yes. You look beautiful Athena."

She tilted her helm back so that she could look up at me. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me feel beautiful."

Craning my helm down, I pressed my lips against hers briefly. "You're welcome."

She smiled. "That reminds me... I painted a picture of the Crystal Garden from that night too..."

I smirked down at her. "Great processors think alike."

My servos slid down to her waist and turned her around so that I could pull her against my front, leaning my chin on the top of her helm. I just held her while her arms twined around my waist, and from there we stayed locked together for some time.

A light pressure tickling the sensitive breaks in my back armor, drawing patterns over the thick metal. But she was completely silent otherwise.

Until she pressed her face against my lower chassis and murmured, "I love you Sunstreaker."

I froze completely, unmoving and hardly able to think at all. And then she suddenly ripped herself away from me and took off running out the door.

I heard Sides yell from downstairs, and that was what finally snapped me out of the stunned daze I had been in. My spark was still racing as I raced down the stairs, through the living room where Sides was standing and staring towards the entryway. "Athena wait!"

"What the pit happened? She just tore outta here like Unicron was chasing her! Hey wait!"

I was already out the door before the question registered in my audios, not that it stopped Sides from badgering me over the bond with more questions. All of which were ignored as I rushed outside, optics landing on Athena just rounding the corner.

My peds pounded down the sidewalk, screeching against the asphalt as I rounded the corner and ran as fast as my frame would carry me. She wasn't going to say something like that to me and just run off!

Not before I had the chance to say something to her!

That thought pushed me faster than I had moved since the war ended, allowing me to catch up within a few astroseconds, servo lashing out and catching a hold of her arm. A quick jerk brought her back around so that my other arm could lock around her waist.

Wide, scared optics stared up at me in a panic as she started fighting to get away again.

"Stop!"

"Please let me go!"

"No! We need to talk about what you just said!"

"I didn't mean..."

I clutched at her hips tighter as my processor took those words in and came to the conclusion that maybe she hadn't meant what she said. And the way that hurt was worse than I normally allowed myself to feel. I found that the last thing I wanted was for her to take those words back and prove that the pain I felt was justified. "Athena please don't say that you didn't mean it."

She buried her face against my chassis. "I... just want't ready to say it yet. Because I know that you don't feel the same way."

My spark nearly soared within the confines of my casing. She really did mean it! But then all that she said registered and I pulled her back so that I could look into her optics. But then I froze, because I had never said those three words to anybot but Sides, and even then it was a familial love. Not romantic, like I was feeling for this little praxian femme who had stumbled into my life and made a place for herself in my spark.

She deserved to hear the words...

 **(Do it bro! I'm rooting for you!)** Sides cheered me on over the bond.

I vented hard... Ok, I could do this...

"Athena... I..."

My vocalizer froze up momentarily.

 **(You can do this bro! Just say the words, 'I love you'. It's easy!)**

"Sunny?"

I gritted my denta together and forced myself to just get it out! "Athena... I love you too."

Her jaw dropped. "Wha-What?"

"I love you." I repeated.

Coolant pooled up in her optcs, and before I could move she leapt up and slammed her lips onto mine. Which really startled me if I was being honest, because she hadn't been so forward since the first time we were together. Now she was kissing me senseless. At least it was a good sign.

I just held her to me and kissed her back just as fiercely.

Now that I knew what I felt for her, and that she returned it, I never wanted it to end...

* * *

R&R!


	16. Chapter 16: Impulses & Choices

Yay! Sunny finally told her that he loves her! After she kind of let it slip without meaning to! Things will most likely progress very fast from here! Just a fair warning there will be more lemons and some darker content later! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

"So we're off work, what do you wanna do today?"

Athena looked up from the sidewalk which she had been staring at ever since we had left the base. She had wanted to wait for Sunny, but he had to finish up his comms shift, so he told us to just go ahead and head out. "I'm not sure."

"Well do you wanna come to our place and game for a bit? Or do you wanna go to your place instead?"

"You decide."

I smirked at her. "Fine then! We'll go to my place and wait for Sunny to get out of work! Sound good?"

She nodded. "Ok. By the way, Topaz actually let me hold her this morning."

"Really? I've been working with her but she still only lets me pet her." I scowled down at the sidewalk. My little stream glider prefered Athena over me by far, which wasn't fair! She was supposed to be my pet! Curse Sunny for not letting me keep her!

"You're pouting again."

"I wanna hold Topaz."

She giggled. "It will happen Sides. Just be patient."

"Easy for you to say... You get to keep my pet."

From the corner of my optic I saw her shake her helm at me as we came upon the housing unit Sunny and I shared. I unlocked the door and led the way inside, switching on the lights in the living room.

Athena wandered over to sit on the couch, purple and gold paint gleaming in the the bright light of the room. "What game do you want to play?"

I plopped down next to her. "COV, or we can watch a movie or something?"

"Either is fine with me."

"You ever seen any Earth movies?"

"No I haven't."

"You like horror movies or comedies?"

She shuddered. "No horror movies please."

I stood up and walked over to inspect my movie chip selection. No horror movies... I had plenty of comedies, Disney movies, and everything in between really. What was that one that we used to watch with Annabelle all the time? The Lion King I believe...

It took me a klik or so to find said movie. "Ah here it is!" I quickly slid it into the port on the front of our TV, then I plopped back down beside her.

As the opening credits started up Athena scooted slightly closer to me. "What are those big gray and brown things?"

"Elephants."

"What's an elephant?"

I looked down at her enthralled looking face. "A large mammalian animal from Earth."

"What's a mammal?"

"A group of animals on Earth, anything that has hair pretty much."

"What's hair?"

Maybe this movie wasn't the best choice to make her watch? I was spending more time explaining what everything was than watching the actual movie. "How about I explain what hair is after the movie? Does that sound good?"

She nodded. "But what are those little brown animals?"

"Gazelle."

"They have horns!"

I chuckled at the expression of sparkling like curiosity on her face. "Yeah they do. But they're not audio horns or anything like that, they use them to fight for mates."

"They mate?"

"Not like we do, they don't bond for life or merge their essences together. They just spark each other and then move on, for the most part but there are some that do mate for life unless their mate gets killed."

"Ohhhh..."

We watched the movie for another few kliks in silence, well mostly in silence, every few astroseconds Athena would oooh or awww at a part. Until we got to the bit where Rafiki held Simba up for all the other animals to see.

"What's that?!" She practically squealed.

"A lion."

"What's a lion?"

"You know what giga lions are?"

She nodded.

"Lions are the Earth version of that."

"Ooooohhhhhh..."

"Let's just watch the movie and you can ask me any questions afterwards. Deal?"

"Ok."

And with that we focused back on the screen for the remainder of the movie.

* * *

"Mufasa died!" Athena wailed as the ending credits played.

I shook my helm at her antics. "Yeah but Simba grew up and became to King of the Pride so it's all good."

She hiccupped and continued bawling. "I'm so fragging glad that Scar got eaten by those hounds or whatever they're called!"

"Hyenas." I corrected her with amusement.

"Yeah! That fragger deserved to be eaten alive!"

"He did. I'm stoked that you liked the movie Ati."

She sniffled and wiped some more coolant from her optics. "Yeah it was a good movie."

It got quiet after that... I just stared at her while she seemed too busy being trapped in her own little world. Her purple and gold paint gleamed in the light, reflecting a bright shine around the room, making her look beautiful.

I swallowed heavily as the urge to act impulsively sprung up again, like it seemed to do often lately. Sunny repeatedly warned me of just how fragile Athena was, making me promise not to do anything to frighten her off. But it was so hard not to try stealing a kiss from her when she looked so cute...

And then those bright crystal blue optics snapped up to my face, and a light dusting of blue crept into her cheeks. "Sides? Is something wrong?"

My vents stalled out between one intake and the next. "Nothing's wrong." I managed to get out with a fair bit of effort.

She raised an optic ridge at me. "Are you sure? You seem flustered."

I tensed when she leaned up on her knees and felt my fore-helm.

"You're warm... Are you sure you're okay?"

My glossa suddenly dried up.

"Sides?"

Something about the way she spoke my designation so hesitantly spurred me into action before I could think better of it. Arms locking around her shoulders and pulling her frame up as I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers.

Her frame tensed and small servos pressed against my chassis as she squeaked in surprise.

She tasted sweet, not like oil and wax as some femmes did... Not that those flavors were bad, it was just that Athena's taste was all natural, yet still sweet.

A soft pleased purr rumbled from my frame into hers, making her gasp, and in turn allowing me to slide my glossa into her mouth. She wasn't responding yet, but a quick nip to her lips finally seemed to have the desired effect of making her start moving her lips back.

Her arms wrapped around my neck seemingly of their own accord, and in response I pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, twining my glossa with hers more insistently. If she was in a daze where she wasn't thinking clearly, I wanted to drag it out for as long as I could. Kissing her felt too good for me to want to stop.

I was so into it that I couldn't tune into anything around me, which is why it came as a surprise when I heard a throat clearing from behind me. Athena tensed in my arms, apparently just realizing where she was and what she was doing. She pulled away from me with a look of mortification on her features, optics drifing to something over my shoulder as the emotions changed to dread.

With slow and deliberate movements I turned to look at my twin standing over us with a scowl on his features. **(Hey bro...)**

He growled. **(Sides what did we talk about?! I told you not to rush her!)**

Before I could say anything a blur of purple and gold shot passed us like a rocket, jolting me out of whatever I was thinking. But the femme responsible was out the door too fast for one of us to even make a move to stop her.

That didn't stop Sunny from calling out for her anyways. "Athena wait!"

But she didn't come back, and the door just slid shut after her. Leaving me to my twin's mercy when he spun on me with a livid expression on his face. "Sides! Fraggit all to the pit! I asked you not to go and do something that stupid! Why couldn't you just listen for once?!"

I winced at his sharp tone, but I could understand why he was mad at me. He loved her, and I screwed up and scared her away. "I'm sorry Sunny. I just... the way she was looking at me... I just couldn't help myself."

He stared at me for half a breem, before slumping down on the couch beside me with a tired sigh. "Sides you're my twin and you mean everything to me, but sometimes you can be really stupid."

"I know."

"We have to tell her now."

My tanks churned at the thought of how she would react to that. But we both knew that it had to happen. "What do you think she'll do?"

He was quiet for a few kliks. "Probably run screaming..."

I slumped down against the back of the couch. "I hope not... Maybe we can try something else? Give her some more time before we throw it on her?"

"No. There's no other way to save any sort of relationship with her. Think about it Sides, she thinks I just caught her cheating on me with you... What do you think she's going to expect me to do?"

"Dump her..."

"Exactly. But if we explain that it wasn't technically cheating, maybe we can salvage something."

When he put it like that it didn't sound very convincing to me... "I'm sorry Sunny... I didn't mean to mess this up."

"It's ok Sides. We'll make her understand."

I hope so...

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I sat curled up on my couch, with a thermal blanket wrapped around me, and my TV playing some movie that I didn't really care about. My processor was whirling with everything that had happened a few solar cycles ago... when Sides kissed me, and Sunny walked in on it.

I couldn't even face either of them anymore... The thought itself was terrifying, so I took a vacation so that I wouldn't have to face it. For that reason I hadn't seen either mechs in days, which was really preferable when I knew what was coming...

Sunny was going to break up with me over this... I knew he would, so I kept ignoring his comm link messages as well. Not only that, but another comm frequency kept trying to contact me as well, which I assumed was Sides. I ignored that one too.

Pit... I was ignoring everybot. Cee, Flareup, Mia, my creators, Uncle Ratchet... I ignored every single one of them in favor of sulking.

How could I be that stupid? How could I let myself be drawn into responding to that kiss? Sure I liked Sides as a friend... or more than that, which I hadn't noticed until I found myself kissing him back that day... And now everything between Sunny and I was ruined...

Why did I put myself into a situation like that?

Slumping forward, I let my helm fall into my servos as I bit my lip to keep from crying. Topaz and Sparky chattered at me from inside their cages, reminding me that I had to see Sides at some point to return his pet to him. I couldn't care for her if it meant that I had to see him and remember all the mistakes I had made.

And what could have been between his brother and I had I not fragged it all up.

All of a sudden I heard knocking on my front door, causing me to tense for a moment.

"Thena open the door!" Cee shouted.

"Yeah or I'll blow it down!" Flareup added.

I got up and slowly ambled over to unlock the door, revealing Flareup standing there poised with a grenade in her servo, which Cee was trying to take from her. "What?"

A blur of purple crashed into me and nearly knocked me down to the floor. "Where have you been?!"

"Home. Obviously."

She looked up at me with intense scrutiny. "Sunstreaker did something to you didn't he? That's why you're acting all mopey."

I pushed her off and made my way back inside my apartment. "Actually he didn't do anything at all."

They followed along behind me. "Then why did you suddenly put in for a vacation out of nowhere, and refuse to answer any of our calls after disappearing?" Cee pressed as we all sat down on my couch.

I scowled at the wall. "I don't want to talk about it."

Both exchanged looks with each other before pressing closer to me on either side. "Ok seriously Thena, something has to be wrong with you otherwise you'd never act like this. Come on and talk to us about it."

"No."

Cee scowled at me. "Why won't you talk to us? I thought we were your best friends?"

"Because I don't feel like it Cee! Primus! For once can't you two just respect my personal boundaries?!" They flinched at my sudden outburst. In their defense I rarely ever exploded or got angry at anybot, especially them. It made me feel a little bad... "Look... I just don't know if I can talk about it okay? All I can say is that Sunny didn't do anything to hurt me. He's been very good to me."

Cee placed a servo over mine, staring into my optics reassuringly. "You know we won't judge you Thena."

Yeah, but they would definitely judge Sides for kissing me without my consent... then they would flip when I told them that I kissed him back. He'd be lucky if they didn't kill him, and I'd never hear the end of my brief _**'fling'**_ with two mechs. Not that it was one, because it wasn't! But Flareup's processor would no doubt conjure up those thoughts...

I let my helm fall back into my servos with a groan. "Can we just not talk about it? I'm trying not to think about it as it is."

"Or we can talk about _**'it'**_ before I assume that it was something Sunstreaker did, and go hunting him down with Elita's help."

Frag you Cee... "You can _**assume**_ all you want to! It doesn't mean that your _**assumptions**_ are right! I'm not going to talk about this until I feel good and fragging ready Cee! So shove off!"

She opened her mouth to unload on me no doubt, but pounding on the door cut off anything she was about to say.

"Who the frag is that?" Flareup muttered as she got up to answer it.

I grabbed onto her arm to stop her. "NO DON'T!"

Now she was scowling at me too. "Why not? Are you expecting somebot that we don't know about? Or is that your lovable player-bot of yours?"

Player-bot? What the frag?

She shrugged my servo off her arm and went to answer the door anyways, disappearing from sight a moment or so before the sound of voices talking echoed from the entryway. My spark nearly stalled after a few kliks when I recognized two distinct masculine voices, very familiar ones at that...

"What?! Did you just tell me to get out?!" Flareup yelled.

"Yeah I did! We need to talk to Athena and you don't need to be here for that!"

Sunny... Oh scrap!

Cee was off the couch before I could even blink, racing out of sight as her yells carried on from the door to my apartment. "Who the frag do you think you are to tell anybot to leave? This isn't even your apartment!"

"HEY!" The two startled cries were quickly muffled as the sound of my door slamming shut echoed through my apartment. Then pounding started up no less than an astrosecond later, along with the furious yells of Cee and Flareup.

But all I could do was stare in complete shock as Sunny came stomping into my living room, followed closely by Sides who smiled at me sheepishly. "Did you just throw my friends out of my apartment?"

"We need to talk to you without them being in here making comments." Sunny explained.

I averted my gaze to the floor when both of them stared at me reluctantly. "Do we really need to talk about what happened?"

"Yes we do."

"Or you can just break up with me and be done with it." I murmured without looking up.

"I'm not breaking up with you."

My helm shot up so fast that I nearly fell off the couch! Scratch that I actually did fall off the couch with a loud clang, grabbing the edge of the table to pull myself up and stare at him incredulously. "What?!"

"I'm not breaking up with you." He repeated seriously.

"But-But... I was kissing your brother! Well he kissed me first, and for some reason I kind of kissed back..." I rambled until I realized what was coming out of my mouth. Then I snapped my denta together and banged my helm on the table.

"You probably shouldn't do that Princess."

So he wasn't breaking up with me even though he walked in on Sides and I kissing? "I don't understand anything that's going on!" I whined.

A deep groan reverberated through the room. "Athena I think it's time Sides and I told you something about us."

I froze at the way he sounded right then, so nervous and maybe even afraid?

"You see... Sides and I aren't just brothers. We're..."

"split spark twins." Sides finished when Sunny said nothing more.

My helm shot up. "What?!"

Both cringed a little. "We're split spark twins." Sides repeated while shifting his peds against the floor.

"Which means that technically you didn't cheat on me by kissing Sides." Sunny finished.

But it also meant that... Oh Primus! Twins? They were a complete package deal and I hadn't even noticed what I was dealing with all this time! I really should have given how much they looked alike, and the way they acted when they were together. Quite a few times I had watched them move in sync without realizing it, the way that only those who have had a bond for a long time could. It explained why they were so close... the only bond that was stronger was a true sparkmate bond.

Wait... did this mean that... Sides liked me too? Did it explain why he kissed me? Or was he being influenced by Sunny's feelings for me?

"What are you thinking?"

I swallowed heavily, optics drifing up to my mechfriend's face. "I was trying to figure this situation out."

His armor locked down defensively, frame tensed for some reason. "And what did you come up with? Did you decide that you didn't want to be with me anymore because Sides and I are a package deal?"

I stared at him as he visibly shook from some emotion, be it anger or fear. Maybe a mix of the two? But what I couldn't understand is why he would be feeling that way? Sure I knew of the legends surrounding twins, but I personally believed that the notion of them being cursed was stupid. My Opi taught me that everybot deserves love and forgiveness if they truly needed it and were open to it. Of course there were some exceptions to that teaching, but these two weren't one.

"No." I answered quietly.

"What?" He asked in disbelief.

I felt my door wings twitch up in a show of my nervousness. "You asked me if I didn't want to be with you because of the fact that you're a twin. I said no." Though I wasn't sure if I could handle two mechs, or if Sides legitimately liked me as anything other than a friend, or was influenced by Sunny's emotions that day.

"Really?"

I nodded. "Yes... I mean, I have nothing against twins, and I don't believe the whole story about them being curses. It's just stupid in my opinion and I was raised better than that." After I met Opi and Danni that is... before that I had spent a lot of time being tossed under every social stereotype there is...

Sides' jaw went slack. "Seriously? You don't believe all that hype?"

"No I don't. My Opi taught me that everybot deserves to be cared for regardless of the circumstances of their emergence, and that we should only judge based on the choices they're making now. If they've made mistakes before all that matters is whether they're genuinely trying to make up for it now."

My mechfriend's expression was unreadable by this point. "You don't care at all about us being twins."

It was a statement more than a question if I had ever heard it. "No... I'm just not sure why Sides kissed me, or whether he even likes me, or whether he was influenced by your emotions."

The mech in question smiled sheepishly. "Well it's true that our emotions can infleunce each other, but I just genuinely like you on my own Ati. Sure I felt Sunny's affection for you, and it made what I was feeling stronger, but I came to the realization that I like spending time with you regardless. You're pretty, sweet, funny, and we can game together... You're not vain like other femmes, but you still take care of yourself. And the best part is that Sunny loves you when he's never loved a femme before. What's not to like?"

I felt my cheeks grow warm. "It's just... everything that happened surprised me... I wasn't expecting you to kiss me, and I didn't think that I would respond back. But I did, and..."

"It's ok Athena. Like I said, it's technically not cheating. You can't really have one of us without taking the other."

Spark pulsating wildly in my chassis, I diverted my gaze to the floor in embarrassment. "I just don't really know what to do now..."

A gentle caress against my chin had me slowly looking up at both of them standing right in front of me, Sunny being the one who was actually touching me, and his optics were steadily locked on my face. "It depends on whether you're willing to give both of us a chance or not."

Give both a chance? "Like... date Sides too?"

He nodded. "For now yeah."

"For now?" I repeated.

"Well if you're open to it there's always the chance that we could do more."

Energon literally boiled under my cheek plates. Was he insinuating that we could bond one day? Did he really want that? But what about Sides? Surely he wasn't ready for that kind of commitment yet, and I wasn't sure if I was either. "I... I think that for now I'd like to focus on getting to know Sides a little more before I agree or disagree with that suggestion."

Luckily they didn't push me any farther than that. "Ok. So does that mean you'll..."

"Date Sides too?" I guessed with a fierce blush.

Said mech grinned widely. "Yes... That is if you want to be my femme too?"

I ducked my helm shyly. "I'd love to."

In an astrosecond I was plucked up off the floor and spun around in a wide circle, Sides' joyous laughter filling my audios as bright red plating filled my vision. He sat me down after a klik or so, without taking his servos off of my waist. The smile on his face could outshine the stars with how bright it was... "That's the spirit Princess! You'll see that two mechs are better than one!"

His joy was infectious and I found myself smiling softly because of it.

Our gazes locked as he slowly leaned down, giving me plenty of time to pull away if I wanted to. But I gathered my courage and leaned up to meet him halfway in a gentle kiss. Digits traced up my back struts, ghosting over my door wings sensually and in turn it making me shiver as pleasure lanced straight through me.

And just like that I tore myself away from him, because it was too soon for me to feel comfortable interfacing with him at this point. I needed more time to get to know him better... "I'm sorry Sides... But I can't do that now..."

He vented heavily. "Why not? You and Sunny interface regularly."

I looked down at the floor to avoid the pout he was sporting. "I've known him longer."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Sides don't push her if she's not ready." Sunny chastised him.

"Fiiiiiinnnneeee."

After a klik or two I looked back up at both of them, Sunny who was shaking his helm at Sides who was pouting still. "I'm sorry Sides... I just need some time."

"Nah, it's ok. I understand. I'm just not the most patient mech around most of the time." He explained sheepishly.

It got quiet after that for a few kliks or so, until I shifted nervously and glanced around the room awkwardly. "So... do you two want to... watch a movie or something?"

"Yeah sure. I was hoping that you wouldn't freak out about the whole twins thing, so I brought a chip with some of my favorite Disney movies on it! Wanna watch the Lion King 2?"

I gasped in excitement. "YES!"

He grinned and ran over to my TV to put the chip in, while Sunny and I sat on the couch with him on my right, leaving the left open for Sides to plop down too. Both wrapped an arm around my shoulders as the movie started up.

Maybe dating two mechs wouldn't be so hard after all?

More pounding came from my front door. "THENA OPEN THE DOOR! I'M GOING TO KILL YOUR LOVER-BOTS WHEN I GET IN THERE!"

I blushed...

Or maybe not...

* * *

R&R!


	17. Chapter 17: Sleepover Part 1

Yay! They're all dating now! Wooooooooo! I wonder what they will get into together! Well I already know, but you guys will have to hang in there for the ride to find out! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! Lemon chapter!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I walked out of the med bay after a long and busy shift. There was absolutely no down time today, not even for a klik. Apparently a few of the trainers had decided to be especially tough on the new recruits today. Resulting in dozens of injuries that Uncle Ratchet and I had to take care of.

He was most likely planning on cussing Ironhide and Jazz out for being so rough on them. I wasn't sure though, all I knew was that as soon as I was given the ok to go, go I did. Right out into the hall… Where I froze upon taking in the sight of Sides leaning against the wall.

He grinned when his optics landed on me. "I was wondering how long I'd have to wait for you!"

I stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to say. I hadn't expected him to bother waiting around for me to get off shift! "You waited all this time for me?"

"Yeah. I figured since Sunny's on patrol for a while still, the two of us could hang out for a bit. I do need to get to know the femme I'm dating right?"

My cheeks literally exploded in a fierce blush. "Oh…"

He pushed himself off the wall and slowly made his way over to stop in front of me. "If you want to hang out that is. I just figured we could spend some time together. You know? Explore our relationship a bit?"

I shifted nervously. "Explore it how?"

"Well… by talking? I'm sure you have questions you'd like to ask me, and I have some for you. Or we can watch a movie and make out?"

"Make out?"

He grinned and practically purred. "I've been thinking about the way those lips would feel pressed against mine."

The heat in my cheeks only intensified a thousand times… Sunny had his perverted tendencies too, but he was more the type to just act without excessive flirting. In a way the lack of flirting made it easier to handle what he did. I didn't know how to handle the abundance of innuendos Sides hit me with on a daily basis.

Something slid between my digits and gave a gentle squeeze, prompting me to look down at Sides' servo which was intertwined with mine. I slowly looked back up at his smiling face.

Sunny never held my servo when we were on base…

"You look cute when you blush."

My helm snapped down as said blush only intensified even more. "Sh-shut up!"

His deep and rich laugh met my audios as he started leading me down the hallway. "So what do you wanna do? Do you want to go to the café before we have a movie night? Or is there somewhere else you'd like to go?"

Go to the café? It seemed like bad things happened when I went there with him, or with Sunny. But I did need to refuel… I guess we could go there and hit the market afterwards since I needed some ingredients for the sweet rust cake I had been meaning to make…

"If we go there is it alright if we stop at the market afterwards? I need to get some things."

"Sure. I'll go anywhere you want to."

I gave his servo a grateful squeeze. "Thank you."

"It's no problem Princess. I'll take you wherever you want to go."

Now if only there weren't so many bots in the hallway staring at us as we made our way to the base's exit… Alas every single mech or femme in the hall, some who I knew, and others I wasn't familiar with, had their optics locked on us. I felt my door wings twitch nervously in response.

Luckily it didn't take us long to escape into the outside world, away from the weighing gazes of the bots on base. Rumors about Sides and I would no doubt be running rampant by this time tomorrow… Hopefully it wouldn't turn out like the situation with Sunny…

"What about hitting the market first? It's closer and we can get your shopping finished up first."

"Ok."

We veered off towards the marketplace, Sides chatting with me while we walked. At one point he shifted his arm around my shoulders instead, pulling me flush against his side as we finally made it to the market.

The place was even more crowded today than normal… I felt the familiar tightening of my frame that occurred whenever I entered a crowded area… only this time it was worse. We couldn't even walk a step or two without bumping into somebot!

"Damn this place is crowded today." Sides muttered as he steered us passed a few younglings playing amongst the crowd. "Where are we going first?"

I ducked under the arm of a large mech that almost knocked me clean over as he raced by. "I need ingredients for a sweet rust cake."

He looked down at me in surprise. "You make goodies?"

Was it that weird to believe? "Yes."

He grinned before leading me towards the needed stands. "Do I get to try some?"

"Yes you can."

"Score!"

I shook my helm at his exuberance as we finally stopped at the stand I needed. I grabbed a package of ground rust sticks, another bottle of mercury, energon candies, potassium flakes, and some spiced metal shavings. Once I had them I handed them to the stall worker so that he could tally the prices up and I could pay.

Afterwards I took the small package and slid it into my subspace, turning towards Sides who was staring at another stand a little farther down the street. "What are you looking at?"

He turned to look at me at the same moment that I concluded that he was looking at an accessory cart. "I was thinking that maybe you might want to get some ornaments for your chevron or something. They have crystal bands and stuff at that stand."

Before I could protest he started dragging me over to said stand, which happened to have a large group of bots milling around in front of it. He pushed through the crowd until we came to a stop directly in front of it.

Various audio horn bands made of all kinds of different alloys lined the counter, some were even made of different shades of crystal. There were wrist bands, ankle bracelets, armor engraves and adornments, facial engravings… All of them glowing in different materials, many shades of glowing crystal…

They even had special chevron adornments that were specially made to balance perfectly on my kind's signature feature.

Sides turned to look at me expectantly. "See anything you like?"

A lot actually… but one thing stood out even more than anything else: a large sapphire fore-helm adornment… It reminded me of the one that I painted in my merfemme pic…

I picked up the round gem and fingered it gently… As much as I liked it, it was far too much for me. So I put it back and looked at some similar colored chevron bangles.

"Did you like that sapphire fore-helm adornment?"

"It was nice, but it's too expensive." I lied. If I wanted to buy it I had more than enough saved up, but I just didn't want to.

"I can chip in if you want it." He offered.

My spark fluttered against my casing harshly. "No that's ok. It's expensive like I said, and I couldn't ask you to help pay so much for it."

It looked like he wanted to say something else, but the sound of a femme calling out from close by stalled whatever he was going to say in its tracks. "Sideswipe!"

We both looked up as a tall, curvaceous, pretty green femme ran up to where we were standing. Her bright gold optics were locked on Sides and nothing else.

He shifted nervously. "Hey Seraphina…"

Seraphina put her servos on her hips and smiled coyly at him. "I've been trying to get a hold of you! You were supposed to comm me like over a deca-cycle ago!"

"I've been busy Sera."

Her optics finally slid over to regard me, narrowing upon my form. "Who is this?"

Why did this always seem to happen to me whenever I was with this mech?

Sides slid an arm around my shoulders. "This is my femmefriend Athena."

Just like with the other femme in the café, this one immediately started sneering at me. "Femmefriend? Since when were you looking for one?"

"It just kind of happened."

She snorted. "Well why didn't you just ask me instead? I'm a much better choice for you than her."

I felt my self-esteem taking another spiral downwards, because she was right. She was tall, pretty, endowed… and I was flat, short, and plain. Surely she was a better fit to stand beside Sideswipe? But then that would be true to say for Sunny as well…

Sides' arm tightened and his expression became… tense? "I wasn't interested in pursuing anything more with you Seraphina. That's why I chose Athena over you."

She growled. "Yeah right! Why do you think she's better than me? She's short and flat in the chassis!"

He let me go and took a single step towards her. "Well I think she's beautiful without needing to augment her appearance like you! So she may be a little on the short side. So what? I don't care! And as for her being flat? You were even flatter than her before you started getting chassis implants!"

My jaw dropped. Did he really just say that?

"And I seem to recall liking your flat chassis just fine when we first started hooking up! So why would I have a problem with hers when she's easily three times as big as you were before you started getting implants!"

By now everybot was staring at the brewing fight between the two. Just like when he cussed Moonstreak out in the café that day…

"But I at least had a better figure! And I certainly have more volume than her now!"

Sides shrugged. "Her figure is better than yours was and it's all natural. I guess I got tired of fake femmes."

Her jaw dropped…

Mine dropped even farther…

And whispers started echoing out from the crowd gathered.

"That was brutal…"

"That glitch just got owned!"

"Why would he choose the little purple femme over the other one? I'd prefer fake as long as it was that voluptuous."

"Pffft! The purple one is prettier servos down!"

All chatter cut off at the same moment that Seraphina turned and ran off screaming through the crowd.

Was this going to be a common occurrence every time I went out with him? Or both of them?

Sides turned back to me with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about that Princess… Old flames and all."

I just stared at him…

Until his smile fell and he shifted nervously. "Do you want to pick something out then? Or should we head back to the café now?"

My optics drifted back to the sapphire stone, but I opted not to mention it again. "Let's go to the café."

* * *

Luckily the trip to the café wasn't overly eventful, meaning no former flames breathing down my neck cables. Maybe I should feel relieved by that fact, but something told me that there would be quite a few more encounters with my mechs' former _**friends.**_

After we finished refueling we went back to the twins' place to play some games, watch movies, and hang out until Sunny got off shift. We mostly passed the time by playing COV, and we also watched Finding Nemo after that.

Dori was a funny little fish! And Marlin kind of reminded me of my Opi when it came to being protective, but I think he took it a little too far! Oh and Nemo was adorable! I felt sorry for him getting shaken around in that baggy thing!

Sides turned to me once the ending credits were playing. "So? How'd ya like it?"

"It was really good! I really liked it!"

He grinned. "I pick the best movies right?"

I nodded, though that statement brought up a question I'd been meaning to ask him. "Um, Sides?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, why do you like these movies so much? I mean they're good and all, but they seem more suited for sparklings. I just… I guess when I first met you I didn't peg you as the type to watch things like this… Even now it surprises me sometimes."

His lips tilted down in a pout. "Are you implying that I'm not mechly enough?"

My jaw dropped in shock, and mortification pulsed through me. "N-No! No I didn't mean that!" Oh scrap! I just insulted his mechly-hood without meaning to!

Deep and rich laughter met my audios, stopping my mini breakdown before it could get too far. To say that he looked amused when I looked up at him was an understatement. He was laughing so hard that coolant was streaking down his cheeks! "I was just joking Princess!"

Joking?

He wiped his optics to try clearing them of some of the coolant. "Oh Princess… I was only messing with you! But you're so cute when you blush or get embarrassed!"

I narrowed my optics at him. "You made me think I hurt your feelings!"

"I'm sorry. I was just messin' around!"

I turned away with a moody huff. "It wasn't funny."

In between one astrosecond and the next he snatched me up and pulled me onto his lap so fast that I didn't even have time to blink. Arms caged me in, and the optics staring down at me were practically smoldering.

My vents stuttered… "Sides?"

He leaned down to press his lips against mine without answering me. Though I suppose the sudden yet gentle kiss should tell me everything I needed to know.

Or maybe I should just relax into it and not question it? Yes that sounded like a good idea…

I slowly slid my arms around his neck and pressed back just as gently. Our lips moved in tandem, slow, unhurried, and with surprising ease. I could thank Sunny for helping me to be able to tolerate these situations more. Thanks to all that I had done with him, I could do these things with him and his brother.

And Sides' lips were so warm and just a tad bit softer than Sunny's were…

We suddenly jerked apart when the front door slammed shut, then Sunny stormed through the living room and up the stairs without even acknowledging us.

"Wonder what's gotten into him?" Sides mumbled.

I slid off of his lap. "I'll go check."

He nodded. "Alright. Just be careful that he doesn't throw a paint can at you or something. He does that to me when he's slagged off enough."

"I'll be careful."

With that I turned and made my way up the stairs, towards the sound of growling, cursing, and banging. It was coming from the wash racks, so I checked the door to see if it was locked, and luckily for me it opened up on the first try.

I peeked inside at the same moment that my mechfriend threw a half empty can of polish over his shoulder, and it nearly hit me. The sound of it smashing against the wall sounded as I slid into the room and closed the door behind me. "Sunny? What's wrong with you?"

A loud snarl boomed across the room. "ONE OF THOSE DISGUSTING FRAGGERS SCUFFED MY PAINT!"

I sidestepped around him. "What are you talking about?"

He paused in rapidly scrubbing at a spot on his chassis, optics locking on my face. "That stupid fragger Tracks ran into me and scuffed my paint! So I beat his aft! Then Prowl threw me into the brig for the rest of the day!"

"Tracks?"

He went back to furiously scrubbing his armor. "Yes Tracks! I swear that mech is always in my way!"

All he was doing in his haste and frustration was making a more defined smudge… I reached out and grabbed the end of the rag. "Sunny you're making it worse. Let me see it."

After a brief moment of resisting he finally let go of it and let me take over for him. There were other scuffed spots along his arms, legs, and pelvic armor, but I started at the chassis first. "So you got into a fight with him because he scuffed your paint?"

"Yes!"

I hummed quietly as I moved down his arms, but the scuffs were being stubborn and weren't coming off all the way. "Maybe a wash would help get this off? Or you can put this in the buffer?"

"I was planning on jumping in the shower to wash it off before you came in."

I paused in what I was doing to look up at his face. "Well I can leave if you want to get in the shower."

As I stood to leave his servo clamped down on my upper arm to prevent me from going more than a step. "Get in with me."

"What?"

He sighed impatiently. "Take a shower with me."

I blushed heavily.

He started leading me over to the shower, where he opened the stained glass door and stepped inside. "Oh come on Athena! We've seen each other with or without armor plenty of times before!"

After a moment's hesitation I stepped into the shower as well.

He turned the solvent to a temperature that made the room steamy. "I knew you'd give in."

The almost scalding hot solvent rained down on me, feeling so hot that I felt like it might melt my paint off or something. But it still felt good to me… I tilted my helm back and let the solvent stream down my face and back over my helm, then further down over my entire frame.

Arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a broad and slick chassis.

He pulled back to hold out a wash rag and some cleaner. "Wanna wash me?"

I took the offered items. "Sure."

Quickly spilling some cleaner on said rag, I got to work on washing the smudges on his armor away with practiced ease. I was attentive to every spot, washing each one to a bright shine, starting with the arms, then slowly working my way down.

I kneeled to get to his legs and pelvic armor. I was so distracted with what I was doing, and getting every section of armor glistening, that I didn't notice the way he was looking at me.

It was only after I finished his pelvic armor and went to stand that I was surprised when he put a servo on my helm and forced me to stay kneeling. I looked up at that point, catching sight of his now smoldering optics. "Sunny?"

His glossa flicked out over his lips hungrily.

Then piece by piece his armor fell to the bottom of the shower, leaving him towering over me in his protoform. And it left me kneeling so that I was optic level with his straining spike. I vented hard as something in my valve stirred. "Wha…?"

He offered it to me fully. "Use your mouth."

My optics widened as I spluttered. "What?!"

"Put it in your mouth."

By this point my cheeks were blazing. "I…"

He tugged on my helm until it ended up pressed against my lips…

I swallowed harshly before ever so slowly taking the tip into my mouth.

His cooling systems came online with a soft click. "More." He grunted.

My vents shuttered as I slowly took as much as I could into my mouth, which was only a little over half of it or so. His soft groan met my audios as I grasped what was left, simultaneously stroking the bit I couldn't fit in my mouth at the same moment that I slid back all the way, then descended down again.

"Flick your glossa around the tip…" He grunted.

On my next ascent I swirled my glossa around the tip, then descended again. Repeating this as more soft groans were almost drowned out by the sound of the shower going, or his screaming cooling system.

This wasn't something that we had done before, and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. If anything it felt like his girth was gagging me, but at the same time I liked hearing the way he reacted to it. I liked feeling his servo pressed against the back of my helm, guiding me up and down, over and over, faster, harder…

Eventually I just gave in and started moving all on my own, and in response his servos moved down to tweak at the sensitive edges of my door wings. I sped up with a violent shudder, gasping around his length as it swelled in response.

He started thrusting his hips forward, panting harshly. "Almost there… Keep going…"

I slid my arms around his waist to help keep my balance as I sped up even more. By now my jaw joints were aching, but I kept it up until his frame suddenly tightened in time with another violent jerk of his hips, preceding a stream of transfluid erupting from the tip.

I gagged from both the taste and volume… It tasted like really strong nickel… not horrible, but strong… Definitely something that I would have to get used to.

A few more twitches and he was finished, and I pulled away to wipe the leftovers from my lips…

He reached down and tugged me up by the arm, servos moving to start discarding my armor once I was upright. "Now it's your turn."

In a swift move he had me pressed against the wall with my hips clasped firmly in his servos. "My turn?"

He nodded as he lifted me up until I was pressed against the wall in an awkward heap, mostly my upper back in contact with the warm tile, while the rest was suspended in the air. I would have been afraid to fall had it not been for the way he pressed himself against me, using his weight to keep me pinned there.

Something bumped against my opening, and just like that my own cooling system kicked on in overdrive. I clawed at the walls when he started sinking in to part my inner walls… causing a brief stinging sensation. Even after doing this quite a few times he still felt too big for me sometimes…

I vented hard when he finally hit my deepest point. He guided my arms and legs around his neck and waist, plastering our lips together as he finally started thrusting his hips against mine.

The nodes oy my inner valve were lit on fire with each shockwave his thrusts created. A series of soft moans escaped my vocalizer, along with soft exhales of his designation. It felt like a shock of electrical charges shot straight up from my valve each time he slammed back into me.

My aft kept repeatedly hitting the wall, deep reverberating growls and groans mixing in with the sound. If anybot was listening they would know exactly what was going on… As if my rapidly increasing cries of pleasure weren't clue enough as to what was occurring, his snarls would fully clarify any question as to what was happening behind this door.

Not that I could worry about that with how good it felt having him pressed against me, thrusting deep, kissing me, letting our chassis bump together. My overload started building there, before gradually moving on to other parts of my frame.

Making me moan harshly when those powerful thrusts caused it to build to a breaking point. His voice murmuring against my audios, "Yes! I love you Athena!"

And all it took to have it all come to an end were a few more even more vigorous thrusts. They had my valve tightening so hard that I couldn't fight down the scream of pleasure that escaped me, my walls fluctuating wildly around his girth.

In response he sped up and pounded into me for another klik or so before stiffening against me with his loudest snarl yet. Warmth filling me to the point of bursting.

Afterwards he turned around so that his back was pressed against the wall, and slid down onto his aft.

I lay slumped against him. Unable to speak because of the loud whir of our cooling systems as they tried to expel the majority of excess heat.

The chassis I was pressed against gave a pleased rumble. "Well I feel better." He chuckled.

"That's good."

We sat there together for a few more kliks before somebot started pounding on the door. "HEY! ARE YOU TWO GOING TO ROCK THE HOUSING UNIT ALL DAY? OR WILL YOU GRACE THE REST OF THE WORLD WITH YOUR PRESENCE?!" Sides shouted.

I nearly fell off of Sunny's lap with a mortified gasp. "Sides heard us!"

Sunny raised an optic ridge at me. "Of course he did. I wasn't trying to be quiet, and you were screaming up a storm."

My cheek exploded with heat. "I was that loud?!"

He smirked smugly. "Yeah. I'm just that good I guess."

I could have died right there, instead I just got up, stepped out of the shower, and started snapping my armor back on. While I was doing that he stood and grabbed his own armor.

"So what did you and Sides do while I was at work?"

"We went shopping for ingredients that I needed, then we went to the café, before we came back here to watch a movie."

"What movie?"

I giggled when I thought about my other mechfriend's choice. "Finding Nemo."

He raised an optic ridge at me again. "Really?"

I giggled again. "Yes. Your brother is so adorable."

"Don't say that to his face otherwise he'll let it go to his helm. Or he'll make some lame joke about you insulting his mechly-hood." He muttered.

"He already did that."

"You two get along too well."

With a shrug I went to exit the room, only to get knocked over by Sides who had apparently been leaning against the door, meaning when it opened he fell into the room. Leaving me pressed against the floor with him on top of me.

At least he managed to look apologetic for a moment. "Hey Princess… Didja have fun up here with Sunny?" But it didn't last long obviously.

I blushed. "Sh-shut up!"

He smirked down at me. "Your cries of pleasure sound like music to my audios Princess… Are you sure I can't convince you to let me-!"

A loud boom interrupted whatever he was about to ask, shaking the foundation of the housing unit. Sides' helm shot up, as did mine, while Sunny calmly looked out the small window of their wash racks. "An acid storm is moving in…"

I got up and peeked out at the mass of toxic looking green clouds coming our way. "Scrap! I have to go now otherwise I won't make it home!"

With that I turned to race out the door, or try, but I only managed to take a step before I was tugged to a stop. "You won't make it back before the acid rain starts up Athena."

I spun on Sunny. "Well what else am I supposed to do?!"

"You'll have to crash here for the night and hope that the storm's gone by morning."

"Stay here? Where am I supposed to recharge?"

"In my berth, with me." He answered like it should've been obvious.

Maybe to him it was… But I wanted to argue anyways, because I knew that Sides and him shared a room. And I wasn't sure if I was comfortable enough to recharge in the same room as his twin yet. Not that I was afraid of him, but he was a raging pervert…

Yeah… maybe that wasn't the best idea, because he could be persuasive too… and I was almost positive that I wasn't ready to take the next step with Sides. Especially after what happened in the marketplace with that other femme. I needed to be sure that he was one hundred percent serious about our relationship first.

Another boom shook the housing unit. Sides whistled, "Damn that's really boomin' this time!"

I slowly ambled passed him and down the stairs into the living room, where I peered out the larger window on the far wall. Greenish yellow acid drops were already falling from the sky in a steady stream, and the streets were already empty. Nobot would ever want to get caught in an acid storm unless they wanted to have their frames melted into a puddle from the burning rain.

There was no way I could get home now…

Hopefully Sparky and Topaz would be okay without me…

With a dejected slump to my frame, I plopped down on the couch as the twins finally came downstairs. "Sleepover!" Sides cheered as practically threw himself on the couch so that he was sprawled on his back over my lap. "Are you excited Princess? Since we most likely won't be able to go into work tomorrow we can game all night! And watch movies!"

I shook my helm at him. "You're especially excited about all that aren't you?"

"Yup! I'm more excited that you're crashing with us though! We can snuggle and watch Dumbo, and Lady and the Tramp, and the Jungle Book, and The Good Dinosaur!"

"Ok Sides I think she gets it!" Sunny snapped.

Sides just grinned in response before leaning up halfway towards my face. Optics bright and reassuring, giving me the option to finish the action or refuse it if I wanted. But I opted to lean down and press my lips to his anyways.

He needed affection too, even if I wasn't ready to go the whole way yet. A kiss here or there would at least show him I cared.

He purred, the sound vibrating through my lips. Then he pulled back and grinned even wider. "So… what do you wanna do first?"

"Movie?"

He leapt to his peds in a sparkbeat. "Let's watch a horror movie!"

"Sides…" Sunny muttered, but Sides ignored him and went through his horror movie selection anyways. Apparently there was no stopping him, because Sunny just scooted closer and pulled me into his side. "A bit of helpful advice for the future: Sides loves having the perfect setting for movie nights, so an acid storm means horror movie marathon. You should've suggested a game night instead."

I cringed…

But Sides turned around with a wide, excited grin. "Let's watch Resident Evil!"

Resident… Evil…?

What was that?

Sides plopped down on my other side and cuddled up next to me. "Prepare to be scared senseless Princess!"

Oh scrap!

* * *

R&R!


	18. Chapter 18: Sleepover Part 2

Sides that lovable idiot had to choose one of my favorite horror movies for Athena to watch! Poor thing is going to be traumatized by it! Anyways let the sleepover commence! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

This was the one of the dumbest ideas Sides had ever had in his life, and he'd had a lot. But this time his actions resulted in a terrified Athena, sitting between us on the couch, with a thermal blanket over her helm, while she squeaked in fear at every scary part of the movie. She'd long since stopped looking at the screen, so I could only assume that the sounds were scaring her still.

Sides wasn't looking at the screen either, his focus was on Athena.

I sighed when the _**'licker'**_ roared on the screen, in turn making Athena squeal even louder.

My twin scooted closer to her with a laugh. "Aww Princess! You're being ridiculous right now! The movie's not that scary!"

She peeked out only long enough to scowl at Sides. "Yes it is!"

Then she was back under the blanket, leaving Sides staring at her with the widest grin I'd seen on his face in a while. He stared at her for a moment, before he plucked her up and settled her sideways in his lap. "Aww Princess! It's just a movie!"

 **(You're having way too much fun with this aren't you?)**

 **(Absolutely. I did pick a horror movie for a reason.)**

 **(You think your moves are so slick don't you?)**

 **(I don't think I'm slick. I know I am for a fact.)**

 **(Yeah… Sure…)**

He turned away from our conversation to poke at the bundle of femme he had in his lap. "Movie's over Princess. What do you wanna do now?"

Slowly pulling the blanket off of her helm, bright crystal blue optics peeked at the TV warily. "I don't ever want to watch that movie again!"

I sighed. "Noted. I'll make sure that Sides knows that he will be punished for trying to make you watch it."

My twin stuck his glossa out at me childishly. "I promise not to make Princess watch anymore scary movies… Unless she wants to!" He added hastily.

She scowled at him. "Well I don't want to. Ever!"

"It was just a suggestion!" Sides placated her. "So what do we wanna do now? We can game some more…" His optics brightened as a flurry of ideas sped through his processor. "Or you can make that rust cake Princess!"

"Ah… So you found out about one of her other hobbies."

Sides nodded excitedly. "Yup!" He stood and dragged Athena towards the fuel prep area. "C'mon Ati! Let's make some rust cake!"

"Sides!"

I stood with a shake of my helm, following them into the prep room where Sides was racing around gathering things for Athena to use in making her cake. Said femme stood in front of the opposite counter, sorting through the ingredients she had.

"Ground rust sticks, mercury, potassium flakes, energon candies… I need to crush those…" She muttered to herself.

Sides popped up beside her. "I can crush them!"

"Ok. Just make sure that they're crushed into fine pieces."

"Got it!" He dumped the contents of the package onto the counter, grabbed a mallet from one of the drawers, and started smacking then candies with it.

"Sides! You're shooting chunks of candy everywhere!" Athena shouted at him.

"Whoops! My bad!"

I leaned against the doorway. "He's not sorry."

She sighed, measuring and pouring the right amount of ground rust sticks into the mixing bowl. "I figured as much."

Sides just carried on smashing the candies without concern for the small bits flying all over the floor.

For that matter Athena seemed to have given up on trying to scold him for it, instead she ignored it in favor of continuing to measure the needed ingredients. "Do you have a mixing tool?"

I nodded, before going over to a drawer to grab said tool, one that we never used. "Here."

She took it and started mixing the ingredients into a slick copper colored concoction. "I need a pan to bake it in."

I quickly located one for her to use. "Here."

Humming a quiet tune to herself, she poured the batter into the baking pan. The sound was light and lyrical, soothing to my audios. She kept humming quietly to herself, catching Sides attention as well, both of us watching her as she used the crushed energon candies to make the icing for her cake.

' _ **Playground school bell rings again  
Rain clouds come to play again  
Has no one told you she's not breathing?  
Hello, I am your mind giving you someone to talk to  
Hello**_

 _ **If I smile and don't believe  
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream  
Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken  
Hello, I am the lie living for you so you can hide  
Don't cry**_

 _ **Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping  
Hello, I'm still here  
All that's left of yesterday' **_

My optics stayed locked on her throughout the entire time those lilting words fell one after another from her vocalizer. The sound of it was intoxicating, equal parts powerful and delicate, melding together in a way I'd never heard before. I didn't even know Athena could sing at all…

 **(Wow** … **You never told me Princess could sing!)**

 **(I didn't know that she could. I'm learning more and more about her every day…)**

Athena turned back towards us after putting the icing in the refrigerator. "Now to clean up the mess!"

Sides went from staring at her in awe, to grinning deviously in an astrosecond. "Sides…" I growled at him in warning when I sensed the direction his thoughts were taking.

He only grinned wider as he discretely grabbed the bowl Athena had mixed the cake in, one servo dipping in to gather up some of the sweet concoction. It didn't take a smart bot to see where this was going!

Our femmefriend turned back around after washing her servos in the sink. "Where are your-!"

 **SPLAT!**

And my twin had splattered her with the batter… "Sides what did I just say?"

He was too busy laughing at his handiwork to even bother trying to listen to me. In his defense the sight of Athena standing there with her face dripping with copper colored batter, dual sets of door wings spread outwards in what was definitely surprise, was somewhat amusing to look at.

Ever so slowly she raised a servo and wiped the batter from her optics. "Did you just toss leftover cake batter at me?"

Sides grinned widely, nodding over-excitedly, like a sparkling who got the last energon candy in the package. Athena narrowed her optics at him, which only seemed to make him even more excited about what he was doing, servo dipping into the bowl to gather more batter up.

But Athena suddenly rushed him, too fast for him to take aim and fling the batter. Instead he wildly flung it over her helm as he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own peds which sent the bowl flying across the room…

To land straight on my helm… The goop dripped down onto my frame while I stood there in shock over having my paint ruined twice in one day! I slid my servos up to remove the bowl, which released another wave of gunk onto my helm…

I wiped the batter from my optics with a growl, which allowed me to see both my twin and femme staring at me with wide optics. "Sides… I told you not to do that!"

A soft giggle interrupted whatever Sides was going to say, prompting both of us to look over at Athena who was covering her mouth to try stifling the sounds. But it was clear from the coolant pooling in her optics, and the soft noises managing to escape her vocalizer, that she was doing a horrible job at hiding it.

"Oh so you think that's funny Athena?" I challenged her, though it was more playful than threatening.

She shook her helm back and forth even as the sound of her laughter increased. "N-No!"

"She's so laughing at you!" Sides crowed amusedly.

"No I'm n-not!"

A playful growl escaped me as I stalked towards her. Where had this playful streak come from? I had no idea. She just brought out this side of me, one that I thought had died when I was a youngling. Whatever the case I pressed forward until she ended up scrambling to get away from me, and in doing so she tripped over Sides' legs and fell flat on her back.

Capitalizing on that moment, I lunged at her prone form in the space of an astrosecond, forcing her to suddenly roll out of the way and scramble to her peds to get away from me. "Sides did it! Not me!"

"Nuh-uh! You were the one that started this mess by being so cute!" Sides argued.

Athena turned and flung a blob of batter at his face, cutting off his obnoxious laughter. "How's that for being cute?"

Sides narrowed his optics at her. "Oh now it's war Princess!"

I felt genuine dread settle in my tanks. "Sides…"

In a flash he turned and grabbed anything that could be used in our ingredient war.

Athena shrieked when he flung a package of rust spice at her. "SIDES!"

I ducked out of the way as the cloud of brown flew across the room, pelting our femmefriend in a dark coat of it. "Sides-!" My reprimand was short lived, because he flung another package directly into my face. Vents stuttering to expel the intruding gunk.

Both of them were laughing hysterically at this point, clearly amused by what was going on. How did this even happen? Oh right… my twin was an idiot! That's how this happened.

It took me a klik or two to clear my optics enough that I could see, and when I did the first thing I saw was the two of them standing on opposite sides of the room, pelting each other with spices and what remained of the crushed energon candies.

They were thoroughly covered in multicolored splotches of almost any shade imaginable by this point. Primus they were both a couple of overgrown sparklings! Screw this! I was not getting involved in this mess!

At least my plan was to lock myself in the wash racks and clean myself until they were done, but before I could leave Athena turned and pelted me with more dried potassium flakes. "Primus fraggit you two! I'll never get this off my finish!"

"That's true! So you might as well join in!" She goaded me.

I narrowed my optics at her. "Oh it's on femme!"

With that I lunged at her, tackling her to the floor where I smeared anything within reach on every part of her that I could reach! She screamed, laughing and shrieking while she fought to get me off.

"Double team!" Sides shouted as he dropped down next to us and joined me in smearing her entire form with goop.

"NO FAIR! YOU TWO CAN'T DOUBLE TEAM ME!"

"Oh but we can Princess! We can indeed!"

One of her servos lashed out and smeared a trail of batter on my face.

"Hey! Don't do that! My finish is already ruined!"

"Well then there's no point in leaving you out of the fun!"

I put a stop to what she was doing by pinning her servos above her helm.

A small pout pulled at the corners of her lips. "Not fair!"

My chassis rumbled with a pleased purr. "I don't play fair femme."

She leaned up and pressed her chevron against my fore-helm, purring low. "I noticed."

The action of pressing one's chevron against another was a deep, meaningful gesture. It meant that the one doing it felt deep affection, sometimes romantic, and other times familial, towards whoever they were bestowing it with. Athena and I had interfaced, I'd held her, kissed her, touched fore-helms, and done almost everything imaginable… Yet this was the first time she had done this.

Her optics were closed, and her expression was peaceful.

My own optics slid closed as I pressed back contentedly. All of a sudden she shoved me off of her, "DIBS ON THE WASH RACKS!"

I flipped onto my back at the same moment she disappeared around the corner. "ATHENA!"

Her laugh carried all the way down the stairs, followed closely by the sound of the wash rack door slamming shut…

Fragging sneaky femme!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

 **BOOM!**

 **CRASH!**

Oh why did the acid storms have to happen now? After watching that movie earlier I couldn't recharge no matter how hard I tried! Every time I closed my optics all I could see were the torn and fleshy faces of the zombies, and sometimes I imagined the Cybertronian equivalent… All torn metal plating, hanging energon cables, and dripping sickly colored purple energon from their mouths…!

AND THEY KEPT WANTING TO EAT ME!

I shrank further under the covers with a violent shudder, seeking comfort from the thick arms wrapped around me. As much as I could anyways, but the thunder shaking the housing unit was making my audios ring.

Recharge obviously wasn't going to come to me tonight…

So I just laid there, staring at Sides who was recharging on his side facing us with peaceful features. Obviously he was having absolutely no trouble recharging, nor was Sunny if the soft stuttering of his vents was anything to go by.

Zombies… Zombies… Zombies…

 **BOOM!**

Lurking outside in the acid rainstorm, waiting to break in through the windows and eat our internals! I shivered even more violently, denta clattering together in the mostly quiet room.

 **SCRAAATTTTCCCCHHHH** ….

I tensed… Was that something scratching on the window?

 **SCRAAAATTTTTCCCCHHHH….**

Ever so slowly I turned to look towards the window… AND THERE WAS A GANGLY LIMB TOUCHING THE GLASS!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! ZOMBIES!" I shrieked as I leapt out of the berth and took off running towards the wash racks.

"What the frag?!" One of the twins, I wasn't sure which, yelled from their berthroom.

Frag going back to explain it to them! I was locking myself in the wash racks and I was never going to come out! The zombies couldn't get in through the window it there because it was too high off the ground for human zombies, and too small for Cybertroninan zombies!

I raced inside and engaged the lock, then I jumped into a corner of the shower with my knees hugged to my chassis.

Moments later a muffled pounding started up on the door. "Athena open the door!" Sunny's muffled yell echoed through the room.

"NO! THERE'S ZOMBIES OUTSIDE THE WINDOW!"

A distinct clang sounded. "See Sides? I told you this was going to happen!"

"I didn't know she was going to be this freaked out! It was just a movie!"

Something occurred to me then… they were out in the hall where the zombies could get them! What if their internals got devoured?! Should I let them in? Oh Primus I better let them in before the zombies broke through the window like the licker in Resident Evil!

I leapt up and scurried to the door, opening it as Sunny went to knock again, latching onto both of them and dragging them in before slamming it shut and locking it again. Once we were all barricaded behind the safety I slid down to the floor in exhaustion.

Not even caring that Sides was chuckling at me, or that Sunny was staring at me with an optic ridge raised. "Athena what are you going on about in here?"

"Zombies! One was outside the window!"

He sighed. "Athena it was a crystal branch. Zombies don't exist."

Sides nodded in agreement. "Yeah we really need to get around to trimming that fragging branch! It wakes me up at all joors of the night with that scratching sound."

"I'm not going out there! No zombies are going to eat my internals or processor!"

My comment only served to make Sides burst out laughing all over again.

Sunny didn't look amused by it at all. "It's not funny Sides! That fragging movie traumatized her!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think it would freak her out this bad!"

I got up and hid in the shower again.

Sunny peeked in a few astroseconds later. "Athena get out of the shower."

"No!"

Sides' helm popped up just under his twin's. "Oh c'mon Princess! It was just a movie! None of it was real!"

"I'm not getting eaten!"

"Nobot's going to eat you!"

Sides grinned like a pervert. "But I might eat a certain part of you if-! OW!" He yelped when Sunny smacked him over the helm.

"Don't even start that!"

"Mean…" Sides pouted.

Sunny ignored him in favor of stepping into the shower with me. "Come on Athe… We all need to try and get some recharge at least."

I shuddered. "Zombies…"

"They don't exist. It was just a stupid movie."

I whimpered fearfully as he knelt down before me.

"It's ok Athena. There's nothing in this housing unit, or outside that's going to hurt you."

"And even if there was Sunny and I would protect you! Even from zombies!" Sides added cheerfully.

Sunny growled at him. "Sides…"

"I was just telling the truth!"

"We're getting nowhere…" He sighed, before he scooped me up over his shoulder, making me squeak in fear.

"Put me down! I don't want to have my internals eaten! The wash racks is the only safe place!"

He snorted. "No it's not! And there's no reason to be hiding anyways! It's just a stupid branch scratching against the window, which I'm going to show you!"

My spark started pulsing in terror as he carried me out into the almost pitch black hallway, carrying me down towards where the sound of scratching was still audible… I only shivered in fear, saying my final prayers to Primus while he carried me into said room.

 _ **Goodbye cruel world…**_

I was sat on my peds right in front of the window. "Look out the window Athena." He ordered.

"No!"

"Primus femme! If a zombie was out there it would have come through the window already! Just open your optics and look!"

"No! I don't want to see it lunge through the window to chew on our processors!"

Sides laughed in the background. "Stubborn femmes…" Sunny growled.

Then digits were actually prying my optics open, and I couldn't really fight the strength of my mechfriend! But oh did I try! I tried so fragging hard not to let them be pried open so that I didn't have to look at… the brightly colored… pink crystal… branch…?

It was quiet for a moment while I stared at the cause of the scratching sound…

"See? It was just a branch femme."

Just a branch? I freaked out and woke them up over a stupid branch?!

I could literally feel my door wings drooping as low as they could possible go… Wow… I was really that much of a burden to them? Interrupting their peaceful recharge over the fear brought on by a stupid movie?

I couldn't even turn to face them I was so embarrassed! "I'm sorry I woke you up for something so stupid…"

Arms wrapped around my waist. "We're not mad Athena."

I crossed my arms over my chassis dejectedly.

"Let's get back to berth ok? I bet you haven't gotten much recharge tonight."

Maybe I should just recharge on the couch so I didn't have any more freakouts that would interrupt their recharge? "Maybe I should-!"

He gave a firm tap to my aft. "Maybe you should get that little aft back in the berth before I find another use for it!"

I squeaked before scrambling up onto said berth, passed a grinning Sides.

"Ooh I have an idea! Let's push the berths together and make a fort!"

"Sides for Primus sake! Just go to berth already!"

"Nope!"

With that he pushed the berth I was on against his, then he grabbed some more thermal blankets from the closet and propped them up on some garniture, leaving me somehow trapped in the darkness underneath.

Then Sides was pushing his way in with a small lamp, followed by Sunny who was muttering about how dumb his brother could be. "Now we all get to cuddle up with one another!"

Both caged me in from the sides, pressing against me under the thick covers. Sides sat the lamp up at the top left corner of the berth, "In case you get scared again." He explained when I stared at him.

Then he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me like a sparkling would with their favorite toy.

"Night Athena! Recharge well and don't let any bad dreams catch you!"

"Idiot…" Sunny muttered.

What the pit did I get myself into?

* * *

R&R!


	19. Chapter 19: Sleepover Part 3

Gosh I'm loving writing this fic! I love the twins' interactions with Athena, and her responses to them! Slowly but surely she's opening up more and allowing me to develop her character more. I love her! She's one of my favorite OC's! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! Lemons! Just a fair warning for under aged readers! This one earns an M rating!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

"Good morning! Good morning! Dadadadadadadada! Good morning! Good morning to you!"

I pulled the blankets further over my helm with a groan. Why was Sides singing to me so early in the morning? "Cut it out Sides…"

Something tugged at the blanket. "Nope! It's time to wake up Princess! Sunny and I let you recharge for two extra joors! Now wakey wakey! We have cake to eat!"

The first thing I saw upon peeking out from beneath the blankets was Sides grinning face. "Sides… It's too early!"

He shook his helm back and forth. "No it's not! It's already 10:00 Joors! If you recharge any longer it'll be midday before you wake up!"

I shot up ramrod straight. "It's that late?! Why did you two let me recharge that long?!"

"You didn't recharge well last night, so Sunny decided to let you charge in for a while longer. But he made me come up here to wake you up, because he said that if you lay there any longer you're going to sprout growths. And since he's locked in his studio at the moment, the task fell on me."

"Sprout… growths?" I murmured tiredly.

He clapped his servos together loudly to get me moving. "Earth saying! Anyways get up femme! We got cake to eat and games to play!"

With a low grumble I slunk out from under the covers, exposing myself to the cold room which only made me shiver. Only awake for less than a klik and already I wanted to burrow back under the covers and recharge for the day…

But from the look on Sides' face I knew he wasn't about to let that happen. He was standing by the doorway looking rather impatient. "Hey Sides?" I murmured when a thought occurred to me.

"Yeah?"

"I… thank you for the whole fort thing. It really made me feel better."

His servo extended towards me, optics softening slightly. "It was no problem Princess."

I took it and allowed him to pull me against his front, spark pulsing a little faster, chasing away any grogginess I was still feeling when he gave me another devastatingly bright smile. His servos slid down to the center of my back, keeping me pressed against him, even as he dipped his helm and captured my lips with his.

What I noticed with Sides is that he was extremely gentle compared to Sunny. He had his vigorous moments, but he generally handled me with more care, and was more openly affectionate. This kiss was sweet, gentle but firm, and unhurried.

Just a simple press of our lips together and nothing more.

I pulled back after a klik or so. "Cake time?"

He perked up and led me out of the room, yelling as we passed Sunny's studio. "Cake time!"

"Sides keep it down out there!" Came from within.

"Ok Grumpel stinky plates!" Sides called back as we raced into the prep room.

Once we got there I walked over to the fridge to take the cake out. By this point it was nice and cold, and should go perfectly with warm spiced energon. To be honest I wasn't too sure how it was going to turn out since it was my own recipe.

I sat it on the counter, cutting three slices while Sides handed me the needed dishware. I quickly put a slice on each plate, before I turned on the stove to start heating the energon. "Do you want sweet energon or spiced Sides?"

"Sweet."

Sunny walked in directly following the answer, stopping to kiss me on the helm before sitting at the table with Sides. "If you give him all these sweets he's going to be bouncing off the walls in the next groon."

"Will not!"

"He's probably right Sides. You're hyper enough without needing any boosters."

He pouted at me. "You're as mean to me as he is!"

I sat their plates down in front of them. "Am not!"

"Are too!"

I shook my helm at him. "Ok Sides, whatever you say."

It took me a klik or so to grab my own plate and take a seat between the two. Neither had touched their cake yet, which gave me plenty of time to worry about how it would actually taste. "Um, I haven't made this before so I have no idea how it will taste. It's actually just something I came up with."

Sides cut a piece to sniff at, which was actually quite endearing to witness. He was like a curious petro puppy looking for a good scrap to eat! After a few astroseconds he actually took the first bite.

"So…? How is it?" I asked nervously.

He slowly chewed with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Sides?"

He swallowed before turning towards me. "You came up with this recipe?"

"Yes."

His lips split into a wide grin. "It's amazing! Will you make this for me at least once a quartex?"

My jaw dropped. "Once a quartex?"

He tore into what was still on his plate. "Mm hmm! Onz aw wartes a' weas'!"

"Sides don't talk with your mouth full!" Sunny chastised him.

"Cam hewp if!"

Sunny sighed before he started eating his own cake, seeming to have given up on trying to make his twin have any sort of manners. "This is really good Athena." He commented between one mouthful and the next.

I sighed in relief before I dug into mine as well, relishing in the smooth sweetness tinged with just the slightest hint of rust spice. Wow it turned out a lot better than I thought it would!

We ate in relative silence for the most part, outside of Sides chatting around mouthfuls. I just giggled at him as I sipped at my cube of spiced energon. It only took a few kliks for us all to finish it.

When we did Sides leaned back in his chair with a content sigh. "It's official! You're not taking all of that home!"

"How about I take a piece or two with me when I leave… and you two can keep the rest?"

"Frag yeah!"

"Well I'm glad that you like it Sides."

He got up to dump all the dishes into the sink, minus Sunny's energon cube, which he was still drinking out of. "It's awesome! Can we have it for our spark orn?"

"Of course you can. If you two decide to keep me for that long!"

Sunny snorted. "You're not going anywhere femme, so don't think you're lucky enough to get away from us."

My spark warmed at those words, and I felt the need to banter back and forth with him about how that sounded like a mating proposal, but I didn't have the confidence for that. So I just laughed and nodded. "Yeah I kind of got that."

"So what do you want to do today Princess?"

"How's it look outside?"

He walked over to peer out the window. "Uhhh… it's still comin' down a bit. Forecast said it would last most of the day."

Frag… I didn't leave enough food in Spark or Topaz's dishes, not enough for me to be gone that long! They'd last for maybe another day given what I'd left for them! I needed to get back!

After another klik Sides turned back towards us. "I guess that means you're stuck here until it lets up."

I bit my lip in worry. "Sparky and Topaz are going to starve if this keeps up… Any chance I can make it back without getting melted?"

Both scowled at me. "No."

"Frag me…" I muttered quietly. Well scrap! My little stream gliders were going to have to rough it for another day at least! No matter what happened, whether the weather was good or bad tomorrow, I was going back home even if I was only a partially melted mess when I got there!

"Don't ask that of us unless you really do want that."

My helm snapped up. "What?"

Sides grinned mischievously. "You said frag me. I was just saying that if you want that all you have to do is ask."

Heat exploded in my cheeks. "SIDES! You're one of the most perverted mechs I've ever met!"

He literally bristled with pride at that remark! "Why thank you Princess!"

"It wasn't a compliment!"

"Well I feel complimented."

I rolled my optics at him. "You would, wouldn't you?"

He nodded. "I love it when you stroke my ego baby."

"Baby? What's a baby?"

Sunny sighed tiredly. "It's another Earth term Athena. It's normally used to refer to the human equivalent to sparklings, but in other cases it's a term of endearment for dating couples."

"So it's a good term."

"Yes."

"You two use a lot of Earth terminology don't you?"

"Unfortunately yes. It rubs off on you when you're stuck there for a while."

Sounded like he wasn't happy about recalling his time there. "Thinking about the mud all over your paint?"

He actually shuddered. "Ugh…"

I snickered at him. "If you keep obsessing over it you'll end up wasting all day in the shower trying to wash off imaginary mud Sunny."

Sides laughed. "Teasing Princess? I wouldn't advise that unless you want Sunny to spank that cute little aft of yours!"

"You're the one that needs to be spanked Sides."

In an astrosecond his aft was less than a micron away from my face. "Spank away Princess!"

I scrambled back so fast that I fell into Sunny's lap. "Sides what the frag are you doing?! Get your aft out of my face!"

"You said I needed to be spanked! I'm waiting to be punished like a bad little mech!"

Sunny face flushed with embarrassment, and a deep growl escaped him. "Cut that out Sides! Primus you're being embarrassing right now!"

Sides stood and turned towards us with a pleased grin. "You secretly love it when I embarrass you bro!"

Sunny stood with me in his arms. "No. No I do not."

"Hey where are you taking her?" Sides whined when his twin turned and walked out of the room.

"To my studio."

"I wanna come too!"

"Absolutely not Sides. You're far too destructive to be allowed inside."

I giggled as Sides released a loud whine as we entered the aforementioned room, where Sunny shut and engaged the lock on the door. "You know that he's going to sit outside the door and whine because you did that right?"

He grunted when my prediction came true only a few astroseconds later. "Clearly."

"Suuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"I really should have taken the time to soundproof this room."

"Are you really that annoyed?"

He sat me down near a couch located in the far corner, opposite of where his easel was. His optics were showing how annoyed he clearly was. "Athena I love my brother, but sometimes I need to get away from his annoying antics. It's called having personal space."

I leaned back against the couch comfortably. "I know. But he is your brother! I'm sure that his antics make your day sometimes. I know they do for me quite often."

In response to my last statement he only raised an optic ridge at me. "Don't let him hear you say that, otherwise he'll only act out more."

"Already heard! Told you Princess loves me more!" Sides shouted from right outside the door.

"And now he'll be insufferable for the rest of our lives." Sunny muttered. He shook his helm tiredly, before he plopped down beside me on the couch, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side.

I leaned my helm on his chassis. "You'll learn to love it I bet."

He gave a noncommittal grunt, but otherwise said nothing else about it.

Leaving us sitting in the peaceful quiet of the room, listening to the sound of the acid rain pattering against the side of the housing unit. I listened to the steady hum of powerful engines beneath the thick plating my audio was pressed against. The sound of it was so soft and mesmerizing… It was going to lull me into recharge at this rate…

Until he suddenly broke it out of nowhere. "Athena?"

I looked up at him. "Yes?"

His optics held mine. "I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, but I was wondering why you won't interface with Sides? You don't have much of an issue doing it with me anymore."

Just like that I was looking down at my lap evasively. It wasn't that I didn't like Sides, or that I wasn't attracted to him or anything… I just didn't know if he was serious about me or not. How could I tell when we ran into a former femmefriend, or frag buddy every time we went out together? How could I know for sure that I wasn't going to end up as just another statistic on the list of femmes he'd been with and dumped? Just because Sunny loved me, didn't mean that Sides cared for me as much as his twin did.

That's why it was so hard for me to just jump into a berth with him. Not out of the fact that he treated me poorly or anything like that. I just wasn't sure what I was to him yet. I just… needed to be sure, to feel secure and comfortable with the relationship before I felt comfortable enough to take that next step. Despite whatever reservations the two had about the way I had gone about my first time with Sunny, it was more of an impulse decision on my part, to prove that I could, and to put his worries to rest. To be honest at the time I wasn't sure that I could go through with it, but I was happy that I had. He'd disproven a lot of conceptions I had about interfacing.

But that didn't mean that I was ready to just give in and let Sides have me as well.

How could I explain that to him though? Would he be angry at me for refusing his twin?

"Athena?"

I fidgeted nervously. "It's just… I'm not sure that I'm ready to take that step with him Sunny."

"I figured. I just wondered what you were feeling insecure about?"

"I just… I like Sides, really I do… It's just that I need to be sure that he's serious about me before I feel comfortable doing that."

He raised an optic ridge at me. "You don't think he's serious about you? I thought that was obvious."

I sat up so that we weren't touching at all. "Well to be honest I'm not so sure."

"Why not?"

"Well, because every time we go out to do something there's always some femme that wants to slit my throat cables for supposedly stealing her mech. We can't actually spend time together without some sort of drama, unless we're here or at my place."

"Sides defends you though. I've seen it over the bond a few times."

I twiddled my digits together nervously. "I know… It's just that it's overwhelming sometimes. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just going to end up as another scorned femme bot if I take that step with him."

He looked at me like my response wasn't what he expected. "Sides wouldn't do that to you Athena. It's not really his way."

I looked at him skeptically.

"I mean that. Sides was always the one that wanted to find a mate, who wanted something real. I was always the one holding him back from that because I didn't want it. I didn't think any femme could care about me the way they did for him, and I didn't want to try caring for them. I was the one that really drove him to the point of using femmes to sate his desires without allowing himself to become attached. I was no better either, I probably fragged every single femme that you two have run into at some point. I'm just as responsible for everything you're insecure about now Athena. Sides just gave up on finding somebot to care about, so using femmes as frag buddies is what he was left with." He looked away from me angrily.

And he wouldn't look at me again. It was like he was so angry with himself that he was afraid to take it out on me or something. But his words kept replaying in my processor, about how he drove Sides to use femmes the way he did. I didn't know what to say about any of it…

"I don't want my screw ups to mess this up now Athena. Just please don't blame Sides for all the things that I caused. He really is trying to treat you the way he should."

Was I being too harsh on Sides? Was I really reading too much into all these femmes we kept running into?

I looked down at my lap to avoid looking at him. Something was nagging at my processor and spark, a question that I needed to have answered. "He's not doing anything with those femmes anymore right? None of them?"

I literally felt the intensity of his optics on me. "He hasn't since he met you. He's been too smitten with you to even care about any of the other femmes he was shacking up with."

Some of the uncertainty clouding my spark was eased. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really. Sides cares about you already. He won't do anything to jeopardize this."

Well that eased some of my worries, but I still didn't know if I was ready to jump into a berth with Sides yet.

"I'm not going to push you into interfacing with him if you're not ready Athena. Just know that you don't have to worry about either of us running off on you to be with some other femme. If that were the case I wouldn't still be here, and Sides would have grown bored with waiting around for it. If you didn't click with him neither of us would still be trying now. That's not how a twin bond works. We won't force the other to be with a femme they have no feelings for."

"He won't hurt me?"

"No way. We're twins and I know for sure he won't do that. It's not really in my brother's nature to be overly cruel. The only reason he was with those femmes, was because they weren't comprehending what he was saying. They didn't want to accept the fact that he was done with them. That's why he reacted the way he did."

I bit my lip nervously.

Somehow while I was doing that Sunny stood without me even noticing, and within an astrosecond he had me pulled up from the couch. "Go talk to him."

"What?"

He pushed me towards the door. "Go ask him about anything you want to know. He'll answer any questions you have."

I stalled out for a moment, but a firm tap on my aft sent me scurrying out the door, which closed after I exited the room. Sides was sitting against the opposite wall, staring at the door with the most serious expression I'd seen on his face since we'd met. Upon me exiting the room he switched to staring at me without speaking for an amount of time that I didn't try to keep track of, but seemed like quite a while.

"You really thought those things about me?" He asked quietly.

Why did that one question have to make me feel so guilty?

"Princess?" He prompted me when I just stood there staring at him.

I vented deeply in an attempt to calm myself. "Sides I… I don't think you're a bad mech or anything. I don't dislike you either. In fact I really do like you, but that doesn't mean that I'm not nervous about some things."

He stood up and grabbed my servo so that he could drag me into the berthroom. Once we were there he shut the door and turned towards me expectantly. "Like what? What do you need me to clarify for you?"

My door wings gave a nervous twitch. "I… just… need to be sure that you're serious about me. You want me to interface with you. You want me to give you everything I have to give. But I don't even know how much you really care about me. How can I do all those things with you if I don't even know the answer to that question?"

His optics held mine steadfastly. "I'm not like my twin Athena. It doesn't take a long time for me to feel something for somebot. I've always been more in tune with my emotions, more open to expressing them than Sunny is. Sunny wasn't lying when he said I've been smitten with you since day one Athena. I took one look at you, and the way he acted with you, and I felt the emotions he was feeling for you. And you know what? They haven't gone away yet. And now I feel them all the time, on my own. I don't need to have them fed into me through the bond. I've fallen for you just as hard as he has and I don't even care enough to argue with myself over it. No femme has ever won me over so completely in such a small amount of time."

Every word made my spark pulse a little harder against its' casing, until it was pulsing erratically in my chassis. I felt energon boiling in my cheeks like wildfire. This mech certainly had a way with words…

He took several steps in my direction, coming to a stop right in front of me, servo slipping under my chin to tilt my helm back. "I do care about you. I'll give you all the time you need to accept that and to feel comfortable enough with me to take all the steps we need to. I honestly wasn't trying to pressure you at all, I just like to tease you is all. When you blush you're ten times cuter."

Just like that the blush on my face intensified tenfold.

"And just forget about those femmes that we run into Athena. They're just upset because I finally found a femme that I really want to be with, who isn't them. I don't plan on going back to any of them either. The only way that would ever happen is if you decided to break up with Sunny and I. Only then would I ever consider picking up old habits. Until then I'm completely devoted to you Princess."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Really, really."

I found myself giggling at him. "Sides stop quoting Shrek."

"Why? I love Shrek!"

Did I really want him to stop? No not really. "Never mind. Just do what you do."

"Do what I do…" He mused with a devious expression, servos slowly sliding down to my sides. "Oh so do this!" And just like that he switched to tickling me!

I shrieked wildly, batting at his servos in a futile effort to get him to stop. "Sides stop that!"

Somehow I turned, ped catching on his mid-step, which sent me sprawling to the floor, and without thinking I latched onto his arm to try and stop myself from falling, only I ended up pulling him down on top of me.

His deep reverberating laugh echoed throughout the room. "I'll only stop if you give me something nice in return!"

I rolled my optics at him. "Like what?"

His glossa slid out of the corner of his mouth, like he was super deep in his thought processes. "I guess that depends on you Princess. I'll take a kiss, or a hug, or some cuddles…"

"Well how about this?" I leaned up and pressed my chevron to his fore-helm.

His wide optics stayed locked on mine as I slowly rubbed my chevron against his fore-helm, giving a high pitched purr from my engines. I could only stare at the awe, adoration, and even slight disbelief in his optics. Then he started purring back as he rubbed his fore-helm against mine just as gently.

Sides really was one of the sweetest mechs I'd ever met in my life… And here I was setting all these restrictions for him because I was scared of being hurt again. I wasn't treating them both equally and it wasn't fair to Sides… So either I stop interfacing with Sunny until I was ready to take the step with Sides too, or I get over being so fragging indecisive and take the plunge!

It wasn't like I didn't feel attracted or aroused by him. In fact I felt it just as strongly for both of them, just so far I had only acted on my urges with Sunny. But he said that Sides wouldn't hurt me, and Sides promised that he wouldn't. And I wanted to believe both of them so much. I wanted to stop being so scared all the time…

I took the same risk with Sunny when I wasn't sure what he felt for me. It had turned out to be a good decision on my part that time. Maybe this time would prove to be the same?

My legs slid up to wrap around his slim waist before I realized I had come to a decision about what to do. Startling me as much as he appeared to be startled.

He shifted closer, then pulled back like he wasn't sure. "Princess?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

I slid my servo down over his chassis timidly. "I took a risk my first time with Sunny. I wasn't sure that I was ready, but it's something that I can't regret even knowing that. Maybe I want to be a little impulsive again and hope that it turns out just as well?"

His optics nearly bugged out of his helm. "Are you propositioning me for interface Princess?"

"You propose interfacing to me at least once a day!"

"True. I just didn't expect you to be so forward."

I chewed on my lip nervously. "Well I was with Sunny… even if it was embarrassing…"

He sighed. "I'm not going to do this unless you're absolutely sure Princess."

"I am. Just please don't make me regret it later."

"I won't."

With that he stood up and placed me on the center of the berth, where I lay with a fierce blush while he started stripping me of my armor. I became self-conscious as the last of my armor was pulled off, wrapping my arms around my chassis as he stared at me with an unreadable expression.

What if he really didn't like what he saw now that he'd seen all of it?

When he said nothing after a few kliks I sat up awkwardly, averting my optics embarrassedly. "You don't like how I look."

His helm snapped up. "What?! I never said that!"

I started gathering my armor up anyways.

He grabbed onto my arms to halt my movements. "Athena I love how you look. Don't be self-conscious."

With slow deliberate movements he took the pieces of my armor and tossed them on the floor, then he stepped back and slowly removed his own plating. His protoform was the same shade as Sunny's but Sides was more narrow and streamlined, not overly so, but enough that he was obviously more built for speed rather than strength like his twin, not that he was weak, quite the opposite really. Sunny was just the physically stronger one of the two.

My optics drifted down to his pelvic area of their own accord, coming to rest on his impressive spike. Every bit as impressive as Sunny's was. These two really were practically identical…

I swallowed harshly as he climbed up on the berth with me, pushing me to lay on my back as he settled on top of me. My servos slid up to rest on his shoulders as he pressed his frame flush against mine, causing my vents to stutter harshly when his spike brushed against my opening.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine hungrily. Kissing me like a mech who had been starved of energon for a deca-cycle. He rubbed our apexes together, growling when I started lubricating from the slight stimulation.

Then he pulled away and slid all the way back down my frame until his helm was within microns of my valve. I sat up and stared at him while he licked his lips even more hungrily. "S-Sides…? Wh-what are you doing?"

He growled excitedly. "Partaking in a favorite pastime of mine."

And then I was arching back with a surprised cry when he actually used his glossa on my external node! The powerful surge of pleasure that shot up from my apex was enough to actually send me sprawling back down to the berth. Where I was unable to do anything but lay there and moan loudly at the new sensations.

I'd never had something like this done to me before, and the way it felt was absolutely addictive! His glossa was everywhere, stroking my external nodes, or sliding inside my valve to lap at my inner walls. I dug my servos into the berth and thrashed wildly, lost to pure carnal pleasure.

Panting…

Whimpering…

Moaning…

Screaming…

And throughout this he grabbed my hips and kept them pinned and spread wide, growling loudly against my external nodes as his glossa wriggled deeper inside of me. My walls tightening in response as the pressure built to a breaking point. I ended up slamming my servos down on the berth, arching clean off of it with a scream when my frame spasmed with my overload.

Sides only licked faster, drawing it out with wild lashes of his glossa. He growled, purred, and rumbled with pleasure throughout, only stopping once he had apparently cleaned everything up. Once done he sat up and wiped his mouth, revealing a cocky smirk. "You taste so fragging good Princess."

I blushed heavily, but otherwise I didn't have the strength to move, or the will to comment on that at all…

He crawled up to settle back between my legs again, spreading them wide enough to comfortably accommodate him. Shifting, he slid a servo down to help position himself at my opening without taking his optics off of my face. "Ready?"

"Y-Yes…"

Without further delay he shifted his hips forward and slowly penetrated my walls with a deep groan. "Frag you're tight… Sunny wasn't lying…"

I gasped when the pinching sensation intensified as he finally hit the bottom of my channel. Why did I have to be so small again? Oh right, I was Praxian...

He looked down at me worriedly. "You okay?"

"Yes." Though I wasn't used to being handled with so much gentility and care. Sunny wasn't horribly rough, but he wasn't the type to ask me if I was okay before getting to the main event. Their berth approach really was different.

His servos slid down to my hips. "Ok."

And with that he started thrusting into me firmly and deep, but not harshly. It felt good, but it was different than I was used to. Sunny had a harsher feel to his thrusts, more force and speed. Sides was slower, still firm, but he didn't just pound into me. I liked it both ways honestly, but it would probably be nice to be able to walk tomorrow. That is if Sunny didn't have a go at me during or after…

My thoughts were cut off when he gave a much sharper thrust, making me actually cry out instead of the soft whimpering I had been doing so far. He slammed his lips on mine to stifle the sounds as his hips picked up the pace unexpectedly. The drastic change had me arching with another startled cry which was muffled by the glossa that was tangled around mine. Letting me taste the sweet tang of lubricant on it…

I slammed my optics shut as the pleasure intensified, my cries mixing in with his loud moans. As the kliks ticked by he grew more and more out of control, as did I as another overload built up within me. I clamped down on his hips with my legs, pulling him deeper in without a thought of it. And he tensed in return, practically vibrating with each thrust at this point.

The pressure increased even further, until I finally lost it and cried out even louder than before as another overload racked my frame for far longer than the last.

Sides stiffened against me with a loud snarl an astrosecond later, hips ramming into me as his transfluid streamed into me… Afterwards he slumped down on top of me, both of us panting harshly for close to a breem.

The door to the berthroom slid open and Sunny peeked his helm in before either of us had a chance to move. He smirked as Sides turned to look at him. "Having fun?"

Sides finally rolled off of me, but pulled me in against his chassis snugly. "She needs to move in with us Sunny. Seriously…"

I heard a snort as I looked up at Sides in confusion. "Um… Sides…?"

He just hugged me tighter. "Come live with us Princess… We promise to be good to you…"

"You know I can't do that Sides."

"Why not?"

"Because I just leased my apartment! If I cancel it, I owe another stellar cycle of rent if they can't rent it out! That and I can't leave my little stream gliders behind and since Sunny says they can't live here that means I can't live here either!"

Sides lifted his helm to scowl at his twin. "See? I told you that your dislike of Sparky and Topaz was going to come back and bite us in the aft one day!"

"Shut up Sides! Primus! If she wants to move in and bring her pets she can!"

Sides looked down at me with a bright smile. "See? They can come too! Please say you'll come stay with us!"

I blinked dumbly. "Sides…"

He started squeezing my cheeks. "We both love you!" Then he leaned down and kissed me gently. "Come stay here with us."

My spark fluttered wildly in my chassis. I grabbed a hold of his face and held him back. "What did you say?"

He blinked. "We both love you? Come stay here with us? Or did you mean something before all that?"

I felt my mouth open and shut as I tried to form words… "Y-You… said that…"

Understanding flashed through his optics. "That we both love you. Yeah I was being serious."

My spark hammered even more harshly in my chassis… because there was no way that he just said that, or that he meant it. It was just too soon for him to actually be in love with me…. But then again he could be saying it as in he loved me but he wasn't in love with me…

"You're overthinking things again femme."

I blinked, vision clearing and allowing me to see that Sunny was now laying on my other side, opposite of where Sides was laying, staring down at me with a smirk. "Did you expect me not to when he just said that to me?! How am I supposed to react to that?!"

He rolled his optics. "Well we didn't expect you to freak out. Sides just confessed that he loves you too, he didn't just come out of the closet or anything."

"Come out of… the closet…?"

He cursed quietly. "Earth saying! Anyways we both love you! Now let's stop obsessing over the fact and let me have my turn with you!"

With that I was made fully aware that he was naked too, which was easy to see when he crawled up on top of me. I couldn't help but to squeak in embarrassment. "W-What are you doing?!"

His spike bumped against my opening. "I think it should be obvious what I'm doing."

A shudder went through my vents as I felt another spike sink into my opening. I splayed my servos out on his bare chassis as he shifted to pull my legs around his waist. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and used it to pull me up at the same time that he settled his knees on the berth, meaning I ended up on his lap, with us still connected intimately. I felt him sink a little deeper than I was used to due to the new position. But I was equally concerned with falling off his lap so I wrapped my arms around his neck, shifting to get more comfortable when my hip joint started to cramp.

He wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me, and the other slid up to tweak the erogenous zones on the edges of my wings. While he did that he simultaneously used the arm around my shoulder to lock me in place as he finally drew back to start thrusting his hips against mine.

My helm fell back after that first shockwave of combined stimulations, mouth falling open in a gasping cry that seemed to quickly morph into a series of long drawn out ones. As usual he moved firm, quick, and hard.

Leaving me unable to do anything other than sit pinned against him, feeling his servos drifting over the most sensitive parts of my door wings which sent me into a frenzy.

I cried out continuously, until Sides jerked my helm to the side and slammed our lips together to stifle the sounds. Which allowed me to hear the loud sound of Sunny's pleased grunts. I was currently too busy having a glossa stuffed down my throat to be able to make a peep.

My frame practically vibrated with pleasure, and then the two switched off so that Sides could dip his helm and tease the edges of my spark chamber with his glossa, and Sunny ended up kissing me so harshly that I nearly passed out because of it.

With the two pairs of servos drifting all over my frame, the glossa dipping into the nodes lining the outside of my spark chamber, and the vicious way Sunny was thrusting into me, it only took me kliks to feel the familiar tightening in my frame.

It erupted in a tidal wave when Sides bit down on a sensitive bundle of wiring, and just like that I felt my frame lock up as a surge of blinding ecstasy raced through me. I clutched tighter to both of them, clawing wildly at Sides' helm, as the tips of my other digits dug into Sunny's neck cables.

Said mech increased his pace frantically, forcing Sides to have to shift around behind me as he practically glued us together as his overload followed right on the heels of my own. He bit down on my shoulder as his snarl forced its' way out between his clenched denta, warmth seeping into me from my apex as I whimpered into his throat.

Afterwards I almost toppled back over onto Sides' lap from sheer exhaustion…

Luckily he caught me, and the two managed to get me situated in the center of the berth without any serious incident. They laid on either side of me, Sides on my right, and Sunny on my left, as the former covered us with the thermal blanket.

I cuddled down into the soft silicone padding with a content sigh. I could definitely use some recharge now…

"You know it's only a little after midday right Princess?"

"Mmm… don't care…"

"I think we tired her out Sunny."

A warm set of lips pressed against my audio. "Then let her get some rest."

"Cuddle time first?"

Sunny snorted. "You act just like a sparkling."

Sides scooted close enough to pull me into a tight hug. "Yup!"

And I didn't try to fight, nor did I even care to at all. It felt nice anyways… But I felt like there was something I should say… Something I should do? I wasn't sure. My processor was too dazed and foggy for me to focus…

Recharge took me before I could contemplate anything more.

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

Sunny had fallen into recharge some time ago… Leaving only me awake.

I propped myself up on my elbow, staring down at the small femme trapped between us as she recharged. She was beautiful, sweet, kind, fun… and everything we both wanted in a femme…

I'd realized something today… Something I was sure that Sunny hadn't yet… And that had made me realize that it could never be just one of us that loved her, but both of us.

It was supposed to be a one in a trillion chance of it ever happening. I'd never thought that we'd ever find her because of that. But we had…

We'd found our true sparkmate…

I didn't plan on letting her go either.

* * *

R&R! I know it was sudden but that's just how it worked in my head! Don't try and kill me through the messenger after this!


	20. 20: Secretly Drinking the Pain Away

Yay for sudden realizations! It might be weird but I really like the idea of someone being your true soulmate, or sparkmate in this case. They may not have noticed it right away, and Sunny is still unaware. And Athena is completely oblivious to what Sides already knows. An interesting mix of things. I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

I woke up to the feeling of something moving around on the berth, optics sliding open in time to see Athena sitting up with her arms stretched towards the ceiling. Being the pervert I totally was, I ogled her assets while she was unaware. Which happened to get me in the mood for a repeat performance of last night.

Before I could act on my impulses she crawled down the berth and slid onto the floor, gathering her armor and putting it on much to my disappointment. Well there went that idea… I did sit up to watch her as the last of her protoform disappeared from my viewing pleasure.

She flashed me a timid smile after finishing. "Good morning Sides."

"Morning Princess. What are you doing up so early?" It was only a little after 06:00 joors… Then again we did recharge most of the day, and all of the night…

"Uncle Ratchet commed me to ask me if I would cover a shift for Jolt in a few joors. I said I would, but first I need to go home and take care of Sparky and Topaz. They need to be fed and have their cages cleaned. I need to get going soon, otherwise I won't have time to do it all."

I swung my legs over the side of the berth. "Want me to come with? I can help clean Topaz's cage since she's my pet and all. You wouldn't have been stuck with her if it weren't for me."

She waved me off. "I was thinking of getting Sparky a friend anyways. But you can come if you want to."

Well who was I to turn down an invitation? I hopped down from the berth and went about putting my armor back on.

"Should we wake Sunny up?"

"Yeah. We have a shift in the comms deck today if memory serves."

"I'll wake him up." She went over to gently shake my twin's shoulder. "Sunny wake up."

Sunny grumbled tiredly. "Stop…"

"Sunny you have to get up now. You have work in a few joors."

An aggravated grunt escaped my brother as he flopped onto his back. "Fine I'm up!" He grumbled while death glaring at the ceiling.

I shook my helm at him as I finished getting around. "You should probably move Sunny, or else Athena and I are going to leave your sorry aft behind."

He flipped me off before getting up and stomping out of the room. The sound of the shower started up a klik or so after meaning he was doing his morning cleaning routine. Frag… I should have thought of that before I got armored up for the day!

"Sides why are you glaring at the wall?"

"Ah, I'm just thinking that I should've showered before we woke him up. Now I won't be able to take one until we get off shift later."

"You can take one at my place if you want." She offered.

I pulled her into my arms to press a kiss to her fore-helm. "Aww thanks Princess! You know what would make that offer even better? If you joined me in said shower!"

A deep blush burst across her cheeks. "Sides…"

"Was that a, **'Yes Sides I'd love to join you'** that I just heard?"

She shoved at my chassis playfully. "No it was not! Now stop messing around and get your behind down stairs!"

I pouted as I released her to trudge into the hallway, passed Sunny who stepped out of the wash racks with a towel wrapped around his waist. He raised an optic ridge at me as he walked back towards the berthroom. "What's gotten into you?"

"Princess won't take a shower with me…"

"Seriously? That's why you're sulking?"

"Shut up…" With that I made my way downstairs to get another slice of Athena's cake while I waited for them to come down too.

Athena came in while I was eating. "Are you still pouting?" She asked after sitting down next to me with her own slice.

"Yes. Don't judge me."

She rolled her optics at my antics. "You look ridiculous when you do that Sides."

"Do noph! I wook adoble! Jus' axe meffff!" I mumbled around a mouthful of my meal. Damn this stuff was so good! Quick! Scarf it down before either of them could steal any off my plate!

Athena eyed me weirdly as I stuffed bite after bite into my mouth. "Um, Sides? The cake isn't going anywhere so you don't need to choke yourself on it by eating it that fast." She stopped to mutter with her fork poised at her mouth.

Sunny walked in at that moment, armor gleaming brightly. He stopped and stared at me as I scarfed everything on my plate down at super speed. "Sides what…? You know what? Never mind I don't want to know. I don't even care." With that he got his own breakfast, which couldn't really be considered that since it was cake, and sat down on Athena's other side.

"Pobly foe da besfff."

I would have kept going like this, but a soft pressure on my cheek snapped me out of my fast paced eating. Optics shooting down to Athena's closed ones, her soft gold lips being what was causing the sensation. She pulled back after a moment and smiled shyly. "Stop acting weird Sides." She scolded me lightly.

My spark warmed at her playful banter, and I grinned in response. "Nope. No way! You secretly love it when I act up."

A soft giggle escaped her. "Well I wouldn't say it's a secret."

I reached over and pulled her over so that she was on my lap facing me. Once she was settled I wrapped my arms around her waist and dipped my helm to press my lips against hers briefly. I wished I could stay with her like this all day long, but we had to go…

With a sigh I pulled away and rubbed our fore-helms together. "Time to go?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"I'm not going to enjoy you staying at your place tonight." I muttered as we stood and left the housing unit after dumping our dishes into the sink. We walked down the sidewalk with Sunny and I on either side of her, I twined our servos together during our trek to her place, while dodging the remaining puddles of acid leftover from the showers. We kept Athena far from the street in case somebot drove by and sent acid spraying at us. There were more bots milling around then I expected after such an intense storm.

We carefully avoided them until we finally made it to her apartment building. As soon as we made it inside the building she practically tore through the lobby and raced up the stairs towards her unit.

"I guess she's really worried about Sparky and Topaz." I commented.

Sunny snorted as we followed after her at a more leisurely pace. "What gave you that idea?"

I opened my mouth to explain my reasoning, since I knew it would slag him off.

"Don't even start Sides." He growled.

I laughed as we finally made it up to Athena's apartment, where already the sound of Sparky and Topaz clicking and screeching could be heard. We walked in, passing into the living room where Athena was sitting cross legged on the floor cuddling them both.

"Aww… you missed me that much?!" She cooed at them sweetly. Both stream gliders were nuzzling her, clicking, screeching, and clinging to her chest plates like their lives depended on it. She was sufficiently distracted with trying to calm them down. After a moment she turned towards me sheepishly. "Sides… I hate to ask, but could you start on the cages for me?"

Sparky suddenly turned towards me at the same moment that I went to respond to her, a surprisingly hostile look in those little multicolored optics. Why was I suddenly afraid for my life?

Maybe because he screeched at me before lunging at me so fast that he was a barely visible blur. Between the moment that occurred, and an astrosecond later I yelled in surprise when he latched onto my sodpiece and sent a surge of electricity directly into my interface array.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" My frame spazzed wildly, before I ended up crashing down to the floor in a heap… with Sparky still latched onto my pelvis with his tiny demon claws…

His optics met mine and he hissed at me like a virus infested turbo wolf.

Our femmefriend suddenly snatched him away from me. "Sparky no!"

Sunny leaned over my fallen form with a smirk. "How's your spike feeling Sides? Numb?"

I punched him over the bond. **(Shut up!)**

Athena suddenly kneeled down and leaned over me with a worried expression. "Are you okay Sides?"

"He zapped my spike…" I wheezed.

She bit her lip nervously. "Um, I should probably take a look at it to make sure he didn't do permanent damage."

That made me perk up instantly. "Can you kiss it better too?"

And just like that her cheeks broke out in a furious blush. "No!"

I pouted. "Mean… I need you to kiss my booboo."

"Booboo…? Um, is that an Earth saying for injury?"

Sunny grunted. "Yes. Now ignore him and do what we came here for."

After staring at me for another klik or so she stood and left to take care of our pets, leaving me laying on the floor glaring at the ceiling… "You had to go and ruin my almost blowjob didn't you Sunny?"

He scowled at me. "Shut up Sides…"

Sometimes my twin really was a jerk!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Later on after a long shift in the med bay, I walked out after clocking out for the day. It had been a long, grueling shift to complete, between all the bots coming in for checkups, those needing repairs for injuries sustained in training, and sorting a new shipment of medical supplies. I was feeling almost dead on my peds. Literally…

All I wanted was to go home and fall face first into my berth and recharge like dead until tomorrow morning. That was if my twins didn't have anything planned for after work. I rarely had a day to just go home and relax, since both normally wanted to hang out. And while that was ok, Sides had a tendency to wear me out some days.

Maybe I should comm them before I left? Just to make sure they wouldn't worry about me when I didn't wait for them outside of the comms deck.

 **:Sides? Sunny?:**

 **:Yeah Princess?:**

 **:I'm beat, so I'm going to head home instead of waiting for you ok?:**

 **:Awww... you don't want to wait for us so we can nap with you?:**

 **:Sides shut up and stop trying to make her feel bad. Go on home Athena, if you want to hang out later we can. Just comm us.:**

 **:Ok. I'll let you know if I want you to come over or something later, and even if I don't I still comm you when I wake up.:**

 **:Ok.:**

 **:Ok! We love you Princess!:**

I slowed down a bit, thinking about what I had been mulling over last night after being with both of them. What it was that I thought I should do, that I felt compelled to, but hadn't been able to figure out before recharge had taken me. Now I knew what it was…

My spark pulsed within the confines of its' chamber. **:I love you both too.:**

I'd questioned that until now, but I was sure that something had changed with our relationship last night. Now I knew that I didn't just care for Sunny to that extent, but Sides as well. I just hoped that it didn't come back to bite me in the aft later.

 **:See ya later Princess.:**

We cut the link at the same moment that I made my way passed the training rooms, only to squeak in surprise when an arm latched onto mine and all but yanked me into it. I spun around, slightly disoriented, with my spark pulsing erratically in fear until I was able to make out three very familiar frames.

Chromia, Cee, and Flareup, all standing around the empty room with the former blocking the door from me.

"What the pit are you doing? You nearly gave me a spark attack!"

Cee put her servos on her hips. "We need to have a talk with you Athena!"

Oh Primus… "About what? And did you have to pull me in here like that just to talk to me?"

"Yes we did!"

Door wings drooping as a sigh escaped me, I didn't need to ask what this was about. "This is about the twins and I isn't it?"

"Did you think that we wouldn't say anything when rumors of you being Sideswipe's latest conquest started being tossed around the base? Everybot is taking bets to see how long it'll take those two to get into your valve!"

"And everybot else is taking bets over how long it'll take for them to get tired of you." Flareup inserted like the comment itself wasn't insulting in the least.

I felt agitation welling up inside of me. "Why the pit should I care about whether or not bots I don't even know, are betting on how my relationship with the twins will end? It's not like I have the best reputation anyways!"

"That is true…"

"Flareup shush! You're not helping anything!"

Flareup turned towards Cee. "Well you're the one that's having a big fit over the fact that she's dating those two! I say let her go with it as long as she wants to!"

"Thank you Flareup."

Cee scowled at both of us, turning towards her sister angrily. "You're her friend too! You should care about what others are saying about her, and whether those two are going to hurt her somehow!"

She just shrugged. "Maybe they really have changed Cee. Athena sure seems a lot happier now then she was before she met them."

"Whose side are you on Flareup?"

"Look I want Athena to be happy. That's all I care about, and she seems happy. As long as the twins keep it that way I don't have a problem with this."

"You don't see any problems with this? Flareup are you serious? Those two are players!"

"You can't force her not to be with them Cee! If they make her happy she has the right to be with them!"

"I agree with Flareup." Mia inserted seriously. "However, that doesn't mean that I won't hunt them down if they hurt Athena. It is her choice to pursue this further, even if we don't agree with it one hundred percent. Forcing her to do something she doesn't want to do will only strain your relationship with her Cee."

Cee huffed angrily. "I thought you two were on my side in this! Why are you against me right now?"

"We're not against you."

"You're going along with this Chromia! I thought you were as concerned as I am!"

"I am. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to force her to break up with those two. However, I will voice my opinion on the matter!" With that the blue femme turned towards me with an intensely scrutinizing expression. "Athena, I'm concerned about you dating those two. I've known them for a long time, and I've seen the way they treat femme bots. I don't want you to end up being hurt by them, but I know that you have to see this through on your own. We can't make you break up with them, however I want you to know that I will kick their afts if they do anything to hurt you."

I blinked… Did Mia just agree with Flareup?

When Cee threw her arms up I figured that really did just happen. "Are you two serious? Why did you even come here if you were going to encourage her?"

Flareup snorted. "We came here because you made us! And also because I want dirty details of what Athena has been doing with those two!" Her optics gleamed with mischief. "Do tell Athena… How is it dating two mechs at the same time? Gotten into any crazy threesomes?"

Mia and Cee gasped. "Flareup!"

My cheeks heated up horribly. "That's none of your business!"

She gasped. "You have! Oh wow! What was it like? Did they do double-!"

"FLAREUP! SHUT UP!" Cee yelled at her. "PRIMUS! NOBOT NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT ANY OF THAT!"

"Says you! I actually want to know about what dirty little deeds Athena has done! She's so shy, but I bet she has a secret kinky side that nobot knows about!" She edged closer and nudged me with her elbow. "C'mon Athena… tell us all the dirty little secrets of your relationship with those two!"

"Um… no…"

She pouted for a moment, before a mischievous look bloomed in her optics. "I know how to get it out of you…"

Primus no…!

"A FEMMES NIGHT OUT!"

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

Athena hadn't commed either of us all day long, which I wasn't too worried about for the first few joors. She did say that she was going to go home and take a power nap since she was tired, and I just assumed maybe it stretched on longer than we thought it would.

But when close to six joors went by without us hearing a peep from her we were both beginning to worry. It just wasn't like Athena to go this long without contacting one of us, unless she was in berth for the night.

Which at this joor just wasn't likely.

I glanced at the other end of the couch where Sunny was sitting, leg bouncing up and down rapidly with agitation. He was worried about her, as was I, but for some reason his worry was stronger and far more prominent. I couldn't figure out why though.

I prodded him over the bond carefully. **(Sunny?)**

 **(What?)**

 **(I'm sure Athena's fine bro. She probably got busy with some things at home.)**

His agitation spiked sharply. **(She still would have commed us! It doesn't take a genius to talk and work on something at the same time!)**

 **(Well… maybe she's painting in her studio? If she's doing that it makes sense that she hasn't commed us yet.)**

 **(She still would've let us know.)**

 **(Maybe…)**

He suddenly stood up. **(We should go to her place and make sure she's ok.)**

Maybe that wasn't a bad idea? **(Alright. It can't hurt right?)**

 **(No.)**

I stood up, and together we left our housing unit to make the short trek to Athena's apartment building. More like we transformed and broke every speed limit known to Cybertron to get there within three kliks.

Once we got there Sunny transformed and sprinted inside, forcing me to have to run twice as fast to catch up as he took off through the lobby, and then took the stairs two at a time until we reached Athena's floor.

He started banging on her door as soon as we stopped in front of it. "Athena?"

No response came from within, other than the sudden screeching of Sparky and Topaz.

"Athena open up!"

Still nothing.

I stepped closer and pressed my servos against the door. "Princess? Are you in there?"

Nothing.

My spark pulsed with both of our anxiety, feeling for all the world like it was tightening enough to squeeze the life out of me. She wasn't inside… and we had no idea where she was. She hadn't commed us to let us know she was awake, or that she was going anywhere…

I tried to calm myself by rationalizing that she may very well have had to go out to do some errands, she was a busy femme after all. Maybe she had forgotten to comm us? It could happen to the best of bots at times… No reason to worry… Right?

But my thoughts didn't placate Sunny for some reason. He was all but glitching from the stress of not knowing where our femmefriend was.

"She's probably out taking care of errands Sunny… There's probably nothing to worry about!"

He shook his helm. "No. She would've commed us… What if she…"

"What if she what?" I asked curiously, prodding at him over the bond when fear started blossoming from his end. He wasn't telling me something that I probably needed to know. "Seriously bro, talk to me! What has you so worked up?"

His servo clenched into a fist, slamming into the wall in his anger. "What if he hurt her?"

What…? "I don't know what you're talking about. Who's he?"

An image of a tall, burly orange mech flashed through the bond. More importantly, the image of this mech pinning Athena down to the floor, after obviously tearing her door wing from its socket. So that was what had him so worked up! The thought that the same mech could very well have done something to our femme!

"Let's go see if anybot at the base saw her!" I suggested, turning to make my way back the way we had come with Sunny following close behind.

Only we didn't get very far before a familiar purple form came stumbling around the corner, giggling drunkenly. I felt immediate relief at seeing her unharmed, though I realized with a single look that she was very overcharged.

"Sides! Sunny!" She cheered, before rushing up to where we were standing.

"Athena? Primus femme! Where have you been?" I asked as she glomped me.

A drunken giggle escaped her as she pulled back to look up at me with glassy optics. "We had a femme's night out!" She cheered.

Sunny grunted irritably. "Another one?"

She let go of me and glomped Sunny too. "Uh huh! We had a drinking contest!"

I smirked at her antics, which consisted of her cheering like an overexcited sparkling, while she climbed up and wrapped her legs around Sunny's waist, and used one arm to lock around his neck. Athena seemed to be a fun drunk.

"We should get her inside before she does something stupid."

Athena smacked his chassis. "I'm not stupid!"

Sunny just grunted before unlocking the door so that we could get her inside.

"BYE OUTSIDE WORLD! I'LL VISIT YOU AGAIN SOON!" She yelled before the door slid shut.

That actually made me laugh, because let's face it she was being hilarious right now. She squirmed against my twin, moving her frame rather provocatively against his, even if she didn't seem to realize what she was doing.

"Athena hold still."

"Nope! I love you!"

"Athena stop."

She giggled when he shifted her over his shoulder in the entryway. "Oooohhhh your aft is sexy!"

And then she had to go and smack it. "She likes your aft Sunny."

"Shut up Sides." We walked into the living room and he sat her down on the couch, which for some reason made her laugh. "Primus… she's more overcharged than she was last time this happened."

I was actually really amused with this, so I didn't know why Sunny was so agitated. "Why are you so slagged off right now? It's not like she was actually hurt or anything! She was just out having fun with some of her friends."

He growled at me, turning to face me at the same moment that Athena started spinning around in circles. "Sides the last time this happened Flareup took her out with the intention to get her laid."

My jaw dropped. "What?"

"Flareup was trying to get her fragged the last time they had a femme's night out!"

Slim arms suddenly wrapped around my twin's waist. "Who's getting fragged?" She giggled.

"Hopefully nobot got fragged while you were out." He grumbled.

She spun around in front of him. "Flareup did!"

Once again I was relieved, this time that she hadn't done something stupid in her drunken state. Sunny looked relieved as well. "Well that's good I guess… What did you do while you were out?"

"I beat Flareup, Cee, and Mia in a drinking contest! Flare didn't purposefully get us thrown out so that she could beat me again! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She threw her arms up and nearly fell over her own peds, but luckily Sunny caught her before that happened.

"How much did you drink femme?"

With a shrug, she scrambled back up and latched onto Sunny's waist with her legs again, bending back over to look at me with a wide grin. "Um… forty something… I think."

Well no wonder she was so slagged up!

"I BROUGHT MY A GAME TODAY! I KICKED TAILPIPE! I AM THE DRINKING MASTER!"

Sunny sighed as she started swinging herself from side to side, singing drunkenly while a series of hiccups and clicks started escaping from her mouth. "We are never letting her go out with those femmes ever again." He grumbled.

"Sides…" Athena sang from her upside down position. "I still need to kiss your booboo!"

My optics nearly bugged out of their sockets. "Kiss away Princess."

"Sunny walk a little closer so that I can reach."

He grumbled, something about how we were both idiots. "I'm in no way getting involved in that."

"Cock block!"

Our femme blinked at me cutely. "What's a cock block?"

I opened my mouth to answer her when Sunny spun and punched me in the helm. "OW!"

"Do not encourage her!"

 **(That wasn't cool Sunny! She offered and I should be fully allowed to take advantage of it!)**

He growled at me. **(Sides, Athena is very skittish, and even untrusting. Normally I wouldn't care about you screwing some overcharged femme, but this isn't just some femme. This is Athena. If you actually did something like this with her in this state, I think it would alter her opinion of you.)**

 **(Alter her opinion of me? How? Why?)**

He sighed, reaching down to pull Athena up so that she could secure her arms around his shoulders. **(Well when I first started dating Athena she was skittish, especially about interface. She thought that as soon as I got it from her I'd run and leave her, and she was scared that I'd take advantage of her.)**

 **(Why?)**

 **(No idea. All I know is that she tried to seduce me the last time she got overcharged, and I had to tell her no. Trust me it was hard, but I didn't want to prove what everybot thought about me right. They all think that I'm just in this for the frags, and I didn't want her to think that too. So I turned her down, and she thanked me later for that.)**

When he put it that way it kind of made me feel guilty for being so quick to accept her offer, even if we did interface last night. Normally I wouldn't care but she deserved better than that.

My musing was cut off when Athena let herself fall to the floor where she sat giggling drunkenly for a klik or so. "LETS HAVE ANOTHER DRINKING CONTEST!"

I blinked, even as she got up and raced into the fuel prep room.

Sunny ran after her. "Athena no! No more high grade!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! More high grade!"

Shrugging, I turned and made my way into the fuel prep room, where Athena was standing on a counter trying to reach something in one of the top cabinets, while Sunny had a hold of her waist and was obviously trying to pull her away. Which somehow caused Sunny to get a face full of aft when she suddenly jerked back with a bottle of high grade held in her servos. "VICTORY!"

They nearly toppled over because of it, forcing me to have to rush to push on Sunny's back to steady him so that he didn't fall. Because somebot would have hit their helm on a counter or something.

"Sides! Sides! I found more high grade! Let's have a drinking contest!"

"I don't think that's a good idea Princess."

She scoffed. "Of course it is!"

Sunny grunted when she scaled down his front and stumbled back into the living room. "We have got to get that bottle from her and dump it somewhere."

"You search the cabinet for more and I'll try and take it from her?"

"No we'll handle the cabinet after we get the bottle, because for some reason I don't think you'll be able to get it from her without help."

I just shrugged, before turning and leading the way into the living room where Athena was laying on the floor near the entertainment center, muttering to herself.

She took a huge swig from the bottle she was holding. "It's always Thena you drink too much! Pffft! Why does everybot have to say that? Nobot else ever gave a frag if I drank myself into stasis before!" In a quick move she rolled onto all fours and hefted herself up by using the table as support, and from there she stumbled over to the couch.

"Princess I think it's time to stop drinking."

"Never!"

Sunny stalked closer to her with a growl. "Yes Athe! You've had more than enough high grade for the night!"

She took another large drink, then clutched the bottle to her chassis defensively. "It's my goody and I can drink it if I want to!"

He tried to grab the bottle from her, only to miss when she twisted away from him. "You're going to literally drink yourself stupid!"

"So what?"

 **(Grab her from behind and I'll take the bottle.)**

 **(Got it.)**

"I'm a big femme Sunny! I can drink however much I want, whenever I want!"

I slowly crept up behind her as she ranted.

"I don't see why it's such a big deal that I finish this bottle too! I already opened it!"

By this point I was already right behind her, and after a quick nod from Sunny I lashed out and grabbed her from behind, eliciting a startled squeal from her. But Sunny was able to grab the bottle from her like we planned, which I thought was a good thing, until her startled squeal turned into a frightened scream.

And then she started thrashing against me with surprising strength! It was so unexpected that I stumbled and tripped, falling flat on my aft against the wall while she continued thrashing, even when Sunny abandoned the high grade and knelt down to cup her face.

"It's ok! It's just Sides!"

The screaming cut off almost instantly, leaving only the sound of her racing cooling systems. I really had frightened her…

Sunny's optics met mine as I communicated what I wanted to do without words, and he nodded as I turned her in my lap so that I could cup her face and make her look up at me. And that first look at her made my wince, because there were tears pooling in her wide and still scared optics. "I'm sorry Princess. I didn't mean to scare you."

She ducked her helm against my shoulder with a whimper.

I couldn't help but to feel guilty even though we needed to stop her, because my actions had definitely scared her for some reason. We could probably chalk it up to her skittish nature, but I wasn't sure. So I just wrapped my arms around her and hugged her against my chassis, and rubbed the soft spot between her door wings, right over the main back strut which soothed both Seekers or Praxians.

She tensed instead of relaxing like I expected, frame drawing even tighter against mine.

I pushed her back a bit so that I could see her face. "Princess?"

Her helm was bowed, casting a shadow over those normally vibrant crystal blue optics. "Please don't touch me there." She whispered.

I quickly pulled my servos back, not understanding why she didn't want my touching that area. I'd touched her wings before… Had I hurt her somehow? "Did I hurt you?"

Her wings folded down close to her back like I'd never seen any Praxian do, covering the sensitive spot that she was obviously defensive over. "No."

Sunny and I shared a concerned look, Athena never acted like this. She had her timid moments, but this was something else… Before either of us could ask her about it, she suddenly swayed on my lap, forcing Sunny to latch onto her to keep her from collapsing as she fell into stasis from being so overcharged.

He wiped the coolant streams from her cheeks, but more quickly replaced it. It unsettled us both to see it, but how could we stop it when we didn't know what was causing it?

"We should get her into berth."

With that my twin picked her up bridal style, and carried her down the hallway to her berthroom. I followed close behind, watching him lay her down in the center, before he climbed in after her, and then I climbed in on her other side. Together we pulled the blankets up over us, and we cuddled her small form…

And all we could do was stare at her while she recharged… with more tears cascading down her cheeks…

While being unable to do a thing to actually help her…

* * *

R&R! So my grandma is in the hospital which is really bumming me out. If any of you could be bothered to say some prayers for her I'd appreciate it. Until next time.


	21. Chapter 21: Half Answers & Glueshooting

Oh my gosh! I came up with something awesome for this chapter! Sides that lovable goofball is about to pull Athena into his favorite pastime! As for what the ending bit was about in the last one, you'll have to wait and see. Anyways…. I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! THE ONLY THING THAT BELONGS TO ME ARE THE PLOT AND ATHENA! So far anyways!

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

I woke up a little past sunrise, rolling onto my side to face Athena and Sunny, the former was still in recharge, but my twin had himself propped up on his servo while he watched her mumble quietly to herself. It was surprising to hear, but then again I had only been around her a few times while she recharged. "She do that often?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But it's mostly incomprehensible things that I can't understand. Other times it's my designation or something."

I scooted closer and draped an arm over her middle, listening to her muttering quietly to herself.

After a few kliks she giggled and snuggled deeper under the blankets. "Sides…"

A grin broke out across my face. "Aww she's dreaming about me!"

Sunny rolled his optics at me. "Can you love yourself anymore?"

"Can you? You're the one that's so enamored with your own reflection that you stop to admire yourself every time we walk by a glass building!" I whispered.

He scowled, but another giggle from Athena put a quick end to our argument, our optics shooting down to her as she rolled onto her front and hugged her pillow. "Flareup… I told you I'm not going to… to… turn you into… a petro puppy…" She giggled.

I cupped a servo over my mouth to stifle my laughter as Sunny just raised an optic ridge at her and snorted. "She has weird dreams doesn't she?"

She suddenly made a shushing motion, making me think that she had woken up and was telling us to be quiet. But instead she turned onto her side facing Sunny with a small snort. "No. Nononononononono! I am not… a Lolita…"

I snorted out a laugh. Did she really just say that? What the frag was she dreaming about?!

Sunny chuckled. "Makes me want to get into her helm just to find out."

We both watched her features morph from a happy smile, to an irritated scowl. "No. No. I told you Flareup… we can't fly to Planet Cheuruvia… I'm not pink… I'll never fit in… Don't give me… that look… otherwise your helm will… turn into a… turbo horse's aft…"

My frame arched up as I busted out laughing hysterically.

Even Sunny was doing the same, only not as loud of course.

All that cut off when Athena suddenly jumped up with her pillow in servo, and smacked me in the face with it. "ATTACK!"

It knocked me right off the berth with the force of it. "GAH!"

"Hey watch the paint!" Sunny yelled.

I peeked up over the edge of the berth to see Athena viciously beating him with her pillow, while he attempted to fend her off with his arms.

She released a sound somewhat of a mix between a giggle, and an enraged scream. "ATTACK!"

"Stop! Stop that right now! Gah! You're scuffing my paint!" He snatched her pillow and tossed it aside.

But Athena just reached into her subspace and pulled out a… wrench?!

 **BAM!**

"OW! ATHENA WHAT THE FRAG?!" Sunny bellowed as he flung himself off the berth to avoid another violent strike from her.

She jumped up and wildly swung her wrench at the air, forcing me to have to duck and crawl all the way to the door, where Sunny was standing and peering at her from around the frame. "Run Sunny! Run! She's got a wrench!"

We took off down the hallway in an attempt to get away.

 **Whoosh! BAM!**

I yelped as a wrench slammed into the back of my helm. Hard enough to send me flying face first onto the floor, where I skidded a few feet towards the opposite wall.

"Sides! Primus femme! Put the wrenches down!"

 **BAM!**

"OWW! YOU'RE DENTING MY HELM!"

I whimpered, rubbing my helm as it throbbed. After a klik I turned to look at what was happening around me, Sunny was peering around the side of the couch, while Athena was walking around with another wrench in her grasp, which she was swinging wildly ever few steps… while giggling…

"Whack! Whack! Whack! Heehee…! C'mere and let me smack you… Uncle says I need… wrench throwing practice… Whack! Whack! Whack! Heehee!"

 **(I'm scared Sunny!)**

 **(Oh stop being a wuss! It's not like she can do a lot of damage to us with that!)**

 **(Says you! My helm feels like Ironhide used it for target practice with live ammunition!)**

 **(Idiot…)**

All of a sudden Athena turned towards me and I yelped before scrambling over to hide where Sunny was, and she turned and followed me, swinging her wrench with a wide and demented smile on her face.

Only to suddenly stop short of smacking me, optics scrunching for a moment before they slid open groggily. She blinked, dazed, before she groaned in pain. "Ow… helm hurts…" That was when she seemed to notice us huddling together in front of her. "What are you two doing in the corner?"

I sat unmoving, staring at her like she might still hit me with her weapon. "You… you were hitting us in your recharge!"

She blinked. "Wha…?" Her optics drifted down to the wrench she was holding, and she gasped before dropping it. "Oh my Primus! I hit you?!"

"You were recharge fighting femme! You chased us down and wrenched us both!"

 **(Sides… Shut it! Can't you see the way she's looking at you?)**

I froze when I noticed that tears were pooling in her optics. "Princess?" When she still didn't stop I got up and pulled her into my chassis. "It's ok! No harm was done!"

She pulled back to look up at me with a sniffle. "I'm so sorry! I have a really bad habit of running around in my recharge! Back during the war First Aid and I used to have to recharge together when we were camping in the field, just so that he could make sure I didn't run off and stumble my way into a con ambush or something!"

Jealousy flared up on both sides of the bond at her mentioning recharging with another mech! Behind me Sunny released a thundering growl, practically hissing the words he spoke next. "You shared a berth with First Aid?"

His question seemed to confuse her. "Yes. He was my partner from time to time."

"Partner?! You shared a berth with First Aid?!"

She blinked. "Yes… But not intimately. Like I said, I have a bad habit of running around like a psycho in my recharge, so in order to prevent me from getting killed because of it, Aid used to hold me in his recharge just so that he would wake up if I tried moving away from him."

"You never interfaced with him?"

"No. Aid is a really good friend, but that's the end of it. I've never liked him like that."

I sighed in relief. "Well that's good, because we will fight other mechs over you."

Her optics nearly bugged out of her helm. "Wh-what?!" She spluttered in shock.

"We will fight other mechs who try to take you from us!" Sunny growled.

"To the death." I added seriously. And she didn't look like she knew what to say to that… So I just turned and steered her towards the fuel prep room before her processor shorted itself out. Once there I pushed her to sit in a chair, and went to slip some pain suppressants into the plain mid-grade energon I heated up for her, while I heated some spiced energon for Sunny and some sweet for me. "How bad is the hangover?"

"Ugh… not that bad actually. But I really need to kick my drinking habits in the aft…"

Cubes in servos, I turned and placed them on the table before taking a seat on Athena's other side. She was hunched over with her face buried in her servos, and her door wings were drooping lethargically. "So it's not that bad then?"

She waved me off without looking up. "I've had far worse… For a time I was a functioning alcoholic."

That surprised me quite a bit, and not just me but Sunny too. "Really?"

Small purple servos slid out to grasp the cube and pull it in so that she could take a sip from it. "Yes really. I have quite a few bad habits… and drinking happens to be one of them. That's why Flareup and Cee usually get us thrown out of the clubs before I take it that far."

"Don't you know your limits femme?" Sunny asked incredulously. Even we knew our lmits!

She grumbled something under her breath. "Once I start drinking I don't stop unless somebot makes me…"

"Yeah we got that." I mumbled as I watched her from the corner of my optic while I drank my morning energon. "Is there a reason for that?"

Her door wings shot up minutely. "None that I feel like talking about."

With that she stood and ambled towards the hallway.

"Ok if you don't want to talk about that, mind telling us why you freaked out when Sides grabbed you from behind last night? You started screaming like he was going to murder you or something, and then when he tried to calm you down by massaging that spot between your door wings you got really defensive over it."

I jolted when she actually turned a furious glare on my twin, looking like she was not even the same femme we knew. "Any door winger is defensive over that spot Sunny! It's very sensitive, and not just in a good way! If you touch it wrong or apply too much pressure it can cause intense pain, temporary paralysis, or even permanent damage! So forgive me for not wanting everybot and their creators to go around touching it!"

Just like that she disappeared around the corner and the sound of a door opening and closing echoed throughout the apartment.

Sunny and I shared a look…

 **(What was that all about?)**

 **(I have no idea…)**

And we really didn't…

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I can't believe that I blew up at my mechsfriends this morning… They were just trying to be helpful in their own way, and I went and lost my temper with them. Why did that have to make me feel so bad?

Even now, after I was off shift in the med bay, I was sitting in the rec room sulking about what had happened. They didn't even seem mad at me for what I'd done, concerned yes, but they waited for me to get around, then walked me to work without asking me about it again.

It wasn't that I didn't appreciate everything they did for me, or anything like that. It was just… there were reasons that I reacted the way I did last night, and those were things I'd rather keep to myself. Or preferably not think about at all…

But I couldn't not think about my past…

Feeling servos digging into the sensitive spot so that I'd scream…

Thrashing wildly to try getting away from it…

Having them force high grade down my throat so that I was more compliant… So that I resisted less… Not because it made the pain a little more bearable… They didn't care about that…

All the hatred directed at me every time one of them looked at me…

And even when I got away… I drank to escape the pain… To numb it…

Because I could never truly be rid of the things I had experienced. No matter how hard I tried, or what momentarily distracted me from it. Maybe if I told somebot it would help, but no matter how many times I told myself that I was too ashamed to reveal what I really was…

Just stop thinking about it! Just stop! It won't make it any better! It won't make it go away! That was the reason I was the way I was! Because I couldn't escape it no matter how hard I tried!

I felt… hopeless… Like I was living a lie…

In reality I was… I kept things from everybot around me, lied to them when they asked me if I was ok. Made up excuses when they didn't believe that… Even with my creators, there was a part of my spark and processor that I would never let them go into out of fear of their reactions.

Of what they'd think of me when they saw…

I ducked my helm and scurried down the corridor a little faster. Not paying any attention to where I was going, and for that reason I didn't see the form blocking my path until I ran into it and flew back to land on my aft with a thud.

When I looked up Sides was staring down at me in concern. "Princess? Are you okay?"

Oh why did I have to run into him now? "I'm fine."

He held a servo out to help me up and steady me once I was upright. "Are you sure? You fell pretty hard."

I nodded. "Yes. I'm fine."

We stood there awkwardly staring at each other for a few moments, before he scratched the back of his helm. "So uh… are you off shift for the day then?"

I nodded.

"Cool… So am I. I was just about to test something out actually. Wanna come with?"

Against my better judgment I actually grew curious. And curiosity was better than wallowing in self-pity or sorrow. "Test something out?"

He grinned. "Yeah! Come with me!"

That was how I found myself being dragged down the hallway by my overexcited mechfriend. He was babbling nonstop about how awesome his new toy was going to be, and how long he and Wheeljack had been working on it.

He turned and pulled me through a door located near Wheeljack's workroom. "It's the coolest thing ever Princess!"

I froze when I saw what he was talking about… But I wasn't entirely sure what it was to be honest.

Four hover wheels sat on the ground, connected to a hot rod red platform with two seats, one located on the front of the cart behind a steering wheel and the works, and the other was located right next to a giant… slingshot? From there I could see that the seat was connected to it, and both sat on a rotating axis that would allow whoever was sitting there to swivel in whatever direction they wanted… On the side located inside a bright gold flame were the words, _**'Glueshooter'.**_

"Sides… what is that?"

"It's my prankmobile!"

Oh Primus no! "You built that? Why?!"

"Because I needed a vehicle small enough to drive through the corridors so that I could get away from Prowl when I prank somebot! Then Jackie came up with the brilliant idea to add a giant swiveling slingshot to the design and boom! The glueshooter was born!"

"Sides…" I started hesitantly.

But he was too excited to even pay attention to me at the moment. "Look there!" He pushed a button which activated a laser aiming system. "Now I can perform high speed precision paint bomb attacks with this baby!"

My optic twitched…

"And this thing really moves! I had Jackie test the engine output and woooo! It really gets around! Nobot's going to be able to catch me in it!"

Why did I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?

He turned towards me. "You can drive! I get to aim!"

My jaw dropped. "What?!"

"Hop into the driver's seat Princess! You can be my getaway driver!"

"Sides…" I protested, but he picked me up and put me in the driver's seat anyways. "I don't think this is a good idea."

He hopped into the other seat, turning a wide grin my way. "Of course it is Princess! Now start this thing up and let's cause mayhem!"

Since I knew there was no stopping him I sighed and flipped the switch to start the engine, which roared to life rather loudly. I had to turn my audios down to avoid having them blown out by that, and Sides' loud whoop of joy!

"ONWARD PRINCESS!"

I pushed on the gas and the glueshooter shot forward at startling speed, forcing me to roughly jerk the wheel to whip around the door frame so that we didn't hit it. "Where to then?"

"Towards the rec room!"

I shot around another corner, nearly bowling Bulkhead and Wheeljack over in the process, "Sorry guys!" I called back before focusing back on the hall in front of us, dodging other bots that happened to get in the way, while others shouted in alarm and threw themselves to the side to avoid being run over.

"Tracks is in the rec room! We're going to drive by paint bomb him!" Sides called.

How did I get roped into this?!

We whipped around another corner, shooting down the corridor in which a familiar gold figure was walking down. Oh scrap!

"OUTTA THE WAY SUNNY! MOVE!" I yelled.

Even from here I saw the way his optics widened, and he barely had time to throw himself to the side to avoid being hit. "SIDES! ATHENA!" He yelled, but anything else he said was drowned out as Sides gestured for me to stop in front of the open rec room doors.

"Watch this Princess!"

I turned to look at him as he pulled a giant green blob from his subspace, and that really was the only way I could describe it. He loaded it onto the slingshot, activated the targeting system…

And I looked into the rec room just in time to see the bright red dot aimed directly at Track's chassis, while he seemed too busy polishing himself to notice anything.

He activated the spring and flung the blob at Tracks, who looked up just in time to see it coming directly for him. "FIRE!"

 **SPLAT!**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tracks screeched like a little femmling as the force sent him literally flying into the air, and from there he somehow hit the ceiling, where he hung from by a few thick strands of glue.

Sides busted out laughing. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I only gaped at the poor mech, before I snorted and busted out laughing as well.

"SIDES! ATHENA!"

We both whipped around in time to see Sunny storming down the corridor towards us with a livid expression.

"YOU TWO MADE ME SCRATCH MY PAINT!" He bellowed angrily.

Sides tapped me on the shoulder. "We should go now Princess… LIKE NOW!"

"Right!" With that I turned and stepped on the gas, sending us speeding down the corridor, even as Sunny screamed at us to come back. Like that was gonna happen!

I found myself laughing as I steered us through the hallways, passed Mirage, Blaster, Bluestreak… All of them stared at us with wide optics as we shot passed, laughing hysterically at the weird looks we got!

Somehow we found ourselves in the corridor where all the Senior Officer's offices were located, turning the corner in time to see Jazz and Prowl standing in the hallway talking to one another.

"DUCK PRINCESS!"

I ducked down just before he screamed,

"MECH LOVE!"

And fired a glue bomb at the two mechs, sticking them both to each other's fronts, and the wall.

"SIDESWIPE!" Prowl yelled, looking like he might glitch as we shot passed.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! THE GLUESHOOTER RULES!"

A surge of excitement and joy tore through my chassis, tearing through my entire frame. This was way more fun than I was expecting it to be!

"ARE YOU HAVING FUN YET PRINCESS?"

I briefly turned sparkling optics toward him. "YES!"

He turned his helm towards me, grinning wider. "I'M GLAD YOU LIKE IT!" His optics suddenly shot over my helm, widening on something that I wasn't paying attention to. "STOP!"

I slammed on the brake, swerving without even being able to look at what he was seeing. The glueshooter nearly rolled from the force, but I managed to steady it before that happened, sliding it to a stop a few feet from Cee, Flareup, and Mia.

Oh scrap!

"Thena? What the frag are you doing?"

"Erm… nothing…"

"Nothing?" Cee asked incredulously. "It looks to me like you two are doing something!"

A sudden sound invaded my audios before I could answer her.

 **SNAP!**

 **WOOSH!**

Then a blob flew into the three of them, sticking their frames to the wall with a loud, **SPLAT!**

Sides started laughing hysterically while all of them screeched in outrage, and I watched mortified about what he had just done! Oh somehow they were so going to get me back for this!

"GO PRINCESS! GO BEFORE SOMEBOT CATCHES US!"

I winced at the murderous looks the three were sporting, but running sounded like a better option than waiting around for them to get out of that mess somehow. So I turned the glueshooter and took off down the hallway. "WHERE TO NOW?"

"BACK TO THE WORK ROOM! THOSE GLUE BOMBS ARE SO BIG THAT I CAN'T CARRY A LOT IN MY SUBSPACE!"

We made it back there in record time and parked Sides' prankmobile where it was earlier. Afterwards we both burst out laughing at the mayhem we had caused.

"D-Did you see Tracks' face when you stuck him to the ceiling?!" I wheezed.

Sides choked. "Yes! Oh Primus it was awesome!"

"He was hanging from the ceiling!" I made a motion similar to the one Tracks had made when he ended up suspended from the ceiling by the glue.

His optics were sparkling with mirth. "I know!"

"That was fun! But I think that we're going to get busted sometime today… So maybe we should leave base before that happens?"

"Definitely." He led me towards the door, stopping to peek into the hall to make sure nobot was there. "Coast is clear! Let's go!" His servo wrapped around mind and tugged to get me to follow him as he sprinted down the corridor.

Thankfully we made it to the exit without running into anybot to be concerned with. And from there he led me back to my apartment, laughing periodically while he regaled me with details of today's prank spree.

When we made it there both of us plopped down on the couch tiredly. "Well that was kind of fun."

"Kind of? That was fragging awesome! The glueshooter has to be the greatest thing ever invented!"

I pulled my knees up so that I could rest my chin on the knee joints. "I will admit that it was really fun to play with."

He chuckled, lifting an arm to invite me closer which I accepted. "Well we'll have to do it again sometime soon."

"Maybe."

It got quiet after that, besides the TV which was humming in the background. I couldn't be bothered with it though, because I was too busy thinking about things… Like how I had gotten so angry at Sunny this morning, and the way I'd spoken to them, and the reasons why all that had happened.

"You okay Princess?"

Should I apologize to him? Should I apologize to Sunny later? Even after everything that happened, the things that I couldn't seem to shake away from my processor today… I didn't want to lose them. They were one of the best things that had ever happened to me so far.

Something started pounding on my front door. "Athena! Open the door!" Sunny yelled.

I tensed apprehensively, but got up to let my other mech into my apartment. He stormed passed me as soon as I opened the door, making me sigh tiredly. Obviously he was slagged off for some reason…

I trudged back into the living room in time to see him standing over Sides, yelling about something.

"You got her in on your pranks Sides! She almost ran me over because of it! And my paint got scratched because I had to dive to avoid your prankmobile!"

"So we had a little fun and almost hit you! You came out of it ok and we had fun! That's all that really matters!" Sides defended himself.

"I don't care! Why can't you act more your age for once?!"

"So I'm immature because I like to get out and do fun stuff? That doesn't make me immature! It just makes you boring!"

"Boring?! At least I don't drag Athena into doing things that could get her in trouble Sides! Did you even think anything through before dragging her into it?"

Sides just shrugged. "I thought she'd have fun."

Sunny all but exploded. "YOU THOUGHT SHE'D HAVE FUN?!"

I winced at the abrupt change in volume, then I stepped between them and pushed at Sunny's chassis to make him back up. "Sunny stop. I'm not going to stand here and let you two argue over me. Besides, we did have a good time and I don't regret joining in on Sides' fun today. It really helped me clear my helm."

He scowled. "We're not arguing over you."

I raised an optic ridge at him skeptically. "You just brought me into the argument Sunny, and I won't stand here and watch you two argue about me. Sides didn't force me to help him today. I chose to. And I am sorry for almost running you over, but the glueshooter had a little more kick to it than I was expecting so it got away from me for a moment. I can repair the scratches for you to make it up to you… and also as an apology for how I treated you this morning."

At that he looked confused. "Apology? For what?"

I averted my gaze to the floor. "I… I was angry and I took it out on you two this morning when I shouldn't have…"

A broad chassis pressed itself against my back, carefully avoiding putting pressure on the sensitive spot between my door wings. "Everybot has off days Princess. Even you."

"I know but… I just… got defensive and I treated you poorly. I'm sorry."

Sunny stepped forward and slid his arms around my waist. "It's ok Athe. Like Sides said, everybot has their days when they're not in a good mood. We understand."

I felt coolant pooling in my optics as I buried my fore-helm into his chassis, processor swimming with things that I didn't want to think about. And for some reason I found myself talking before I could think better of it. "I just… don't like being touched there…"

"Is there a reason why?"

I froze up just like I always did...

"Princess?"

I'd never told anybot anything before, but I knew that my creators at least suspected that I had been abused at some point in my life due to how I first acted when Prowl had hefted my sorry aft out of that alley as a youngling, and carried me back to base. I had been even more skittish and terrified of everything than the twins had ever seen since I'd met them. Back then all the adult bots had made their assumptions, or they had treated me like I was made of glass. At points I heard my adoptive creators discussing it, both before and after they decided to adopt me. And I'd heard Uncle Ratchet asking them if I'd said anything quite often when I was younger.

But I'd never told anybot a thing… Not once…

Could I do that now?

I swallowed heavily, mouth opening and closing as I tried to gather my courage and tell somebot. Not all, but only a minuscule fraction of what had been done to me.

From the moment I started speaking, I kept my face buried in his chassis to avoid having to look at them. "It's just that… when I was little I was abused… and the ones that did it to me used to target that spot… because it can cause agonizing pain if stimulated the right way. That's why I'm so defensive over it, because it's a force of habit even after all this time."

Neither of them said anything once I finished speaking. Silence reigning for several long moments, in which I grew more and more nervous of what they'd think of me. This was why I never told anybot about anything from my past! Because I knew they'd judge me for it!

But then… servos cupped my face and gently tugged it up so that I could see Sunny staring down at me with the softest expression I'd ever seen on his face. He used his thumbs to gently wipe the coolant tracks that I didn't even realize were streaming from my optics from my cheeks.

"You don't have to apologize for what happened this morning. I meant it when I said that we understood, now more so than before. Sides and I can relate to that kind of upbringing."

I sniffled. "You can?"

"Yeah. We didn't have a good upbringing either. It actually really sucked."

"Really? You don't think… I'm pathetic or anything?"

"No we don't." He answered softly, staring at me reassuringly.

Then Sides shifted behind me, reminding me that he was here as well. "Was that why you wouldn't even tell me where you grew up? Because you didn't want to talk about it at all?"

"Yes. I never talk about it… not even to my adoptive creators."

They moved us to sit on the couch, both staring me down from either side. "They don't know anything?"

I looked down at my lap shamefully. "No."

"Who hurt you Princess? Was it somebot that you knew?"

I squeezed my optics shut as multiple different faces flashed through my optics, but the predominant three were of her... and her carrier… and my Sire… I wasn't ready to talk about them yet…

"I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Ok. We'll drop it for now Athena."

"Thank you…"

It got quiet after that, until Sides broke it. "So what do you want to do now? Wanna watch a movie, cuddle, or play COV?"

"Can we cuddle?"

He scooted a little closer to me. "Of course! I wouldn't have mentioned it if I didn't want to."

I felt my lips turn up at the edges ever so slightly, not much, but some. It only widened after I ended up sandwiched between the two mechs with my upper half settled against Suny's middle, while my lower half was laying draped over Sides's lap with him gently stroking my thighs.

"Oh and Athena?"

I looked up at Sunny curiously.

He had a serious expression on his face. "We'll never hurt you like that, so you don't have to be afraid."

My spark pulsed harshly within its' casing, because I believed him. If I didn't I doubted that I'd be here now, even if I couldn't explain why I trusted these two so easily. "I know."

His lips tilted up in a rarely seen smile. "We love you Princess."

I blushed at his use of Sides' favorite affectionate name for me, while Sides chuckled at my embarrassment. "I love you both too."

And that felt good…

* * *

R&R!


	22. Chapter 22: You're Not Staying There!

Well here's an update for you guys, even though I was really disappointed with the lack of feedback on the last chapter. My thanks to the few of you who did review! So some of Athena's past came out! But like she said it's a lot worse than what's been revealed so far! Just a warning that there will be some very disturbing content later! Young readers have been warned! Proceed at your own discretion! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! Lemonade in this one! Because let's face it they're the twins and that's how they roll!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Athena and I were hanging out at her place after getting off of work. Sides was still on patrol, but he would be getting off soon, then he'd no doubt stop by. But for now the two of us were sitting on the couch watching something on TV.

I was tense, because it'd been a long and stressful day… Patrol dragged on, and there seemed to be no end of petty criminals needing to be brought in. I swear that I'd had to make over two dozen trips back to base to drop them off!

Then to make matters worse one of them had scratched my paint, and even though I'd long since fixed it, I was still irritated about it. I could literally envision the hideous mark scarring my armor every time I closed my optics!

Athena looked over when I shifted in aggravation. "Sunny? Are you okay?"

I grunted.

She blinked. "I'm assuming that's a no."

"You think?"

She looked away after a look of hurt bloomed to life in those crystal blues. "You don't have to be so mean about it. I was just worried about you."

Well that wasn't quite what I was going for… I didn't mean to hurt her feelings or take my frustration out on her when she was just trying to help.

I sighed. "Sorry Athe. I'm just in a bad mood right now."

"I noticed. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Patrol was just rough today… I must have had to make dozens of trips to and from base before it was over. And one of the punks I brought in scuffed my paint, then I got chewed out by Prowl for getting rough with him."

She scooted closer and laid a servo on my upper arm. "I didn't notice a thing off with your paint."

"I fixed it after I got off shift."

"I see… Is there anything I can do to help you relax?"

Oh I could think of quite a few things she could do to help me relax… And a couple of things that I could do to her that would please me immensely. Well some things that I wanted to try that I had never done before. Sides had explained the pleasure of going down on a femme, and while I'd never cared enough to put my partner's pleasure over mine before, Athena was different. I wanted to try doing that for her.

"Sunny?" She murmured quietly.

I turned to face her. "Why don't we go into your berthroom?"

Her cheeks exploded in a dark blue blush. "Um… ok."

Taking her servo in mine, I stood and tugged her down the hall and into her berthroom where I spun her around pulled her against my front. Patience and subtly weren't exactly my strong suits, so I wasted no time in sliding my servos down over the edges of her door wings, careful to avoid the vulnerable spot between the upper set.

She latched hold of my waist, sighing softly into my lower chassis.

After a moment I tugged at a piece of her armor. "Take it off." I commanded, and she quickly pulled back to do so, blushing more intensely when each discarded piece hit the floor. Once the last of it fell to the floor her bright silver protoform was put on full display for me.

Her door wings twitched as she ducked her helm shyly, which was really endearing considering that she had been the instigator of her first sexual encounters with Sides and I. I chuckled, taking her by the waist and depositing her on the bottom of the berth. I leaned in to press my lips against hers hungrily, glossa quickly sliding into her mouth to slide up against her own while she moaned softly against mine.

"What do you want me to do to you Athena?" I murmured against her lips.

"I… What do you want to do?"

I pushed her to lay back against the berth. "I can think of a few things… There's actually something I want to try that I've never bothered doing before."

She leaned up on her elbows to stare at me nervously. "Um, what are you talking about exactly?"

I licked my lips hungrily. "Sides said you taste really good. I wanted to see for myself if that was true."

The blush on her cheeks only intensified, denta peeking out as they squeezed her plump lower lip. "Oh… Ok…"

Sliding my servos up between her thighs, I swiftly spread them wide, fully displaying her beautiful valve for my viewing pleasure. "Just lay there and enjoy it Athe." I purred as I leaned in and gave my first tentative lick to the outer rim of her opening.

I'd seen Sides do this plenty of times before, but it was a little surprising to feel how she responded by bucking her hips up into my face with a strained moan. Even more surprising was the texture and taste of her, like something delicately smooth with a strong hint of sweetness. It tasted surprisingly good. Maybe it was just her?

I started lapping at her opening, becoming addicted to her flavor after that first taste. I slid my glossa over the sensitive lips that protected her inner workings, hearing her moaning and whimpering during my exploration. But I just couldn't get enough of her at the moment, and nothing could stop me from taking as much as I could get!

I tried to recall all the things that Sides explained that femmes liked when he did this, I remembered him saying that they liked it when he stuck his glossa inside, or when he alternated between the more sensitive outer nodes, then over the ones lining the rim.

Switching gears, I switched to passing over her rim, then I slid my glossa up to lap at the largest external node located right over it, alternating between those two places.

She bucked hard, whimpering my designation. "S-Sunny!"

I grinned against her, before thrusting my glossa inside her tight heat.

And just like that she bucked hard, actually screaming my designation.

I jerked her hips back down to the berth, holding them there as I thrusted my glossa in and out of her moaning frame. Her walls quivered around my appendage, pulling it deeper, while simultaneously coating it in even more of her amazing flavor. I could hear something clanging from the top of the berth, and I assumed it was her tossing her helm from side to side.

Which meant that I was doing my job very well! I growled heatedly, thrusting my glossa faster as I used my thumb to stroke at her external node. Her valve rippled violently, lubricant coating my glossa in a thick coat as she released a shuddering scream.

I groaned at the flavor of it… So sweet and smooth… I swirled my glossa to gather it all up from the inside, then I pulled back to lap at any that had escaped.

Afterwards I pulled back to lick away any evidence of it from my lips, shedding my own armor before crawling up the berth slowly. "Sides was right. You do taste good. I'll have to do this more often."

I positioned myself between her legs comfortably. "Are you ready?"

"Uh huh…"

Shifting, I used a servo to line myself up and slide into her slick opening. I groaned at the tightness and the heat she was exuding… Primus she always felt so good! Without wasting any time, I quickly started thrusting into her with abandon. Her walls massaged my spike so perfectly, resisting at the same time that they seemed to try pulling me in deeper.

I watched her writhe under me, crying out in the throes of pleasure.

Cheeks flushed…

Sweet lips stretched wide with each cry of ecstasy…

Delicate yet strong legs wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer…

And that perfect little valve squeezing down on my spike so fiercely that I felt like I could go at any moment! I'd never want to take another femme like this again… None had ever made me feel so good, not even one of the femmes had even come close to her!

I groaned as my overload drew closer, causing me to speed up my thrusts until I was creating a literal shockwave through her small frame. Her loud cries spurring me on, faster, harder… Making me want to do anything I could to send us both over the edge.

I felt transfluid pooling behind my catch release, and I was so desperate to let it go! But she just wouldn't overload! Her frame was resisting it!

Well that just wouldn't do…

A thundering growl escaped me as I reared back and hefted her legs onto my shoulders, pressing forward so that she was laying with her knees pressed against her chassis. This position allowed me to hit her sweet spot more easily, and her cries increased in volume as her walls started quivering more harshly. "That's it… let it go Athena! Overload for me!"

She threw her helm back as the first wave peeked, crying out as it swiftly surged through her frame. "SUNNY!"

I tensed as lubricant gushed from her internals coating my thighs as well as my spike, while her valve tried to literally yank me further inside. I threw my helm back and moaned as I continued riding her for a few more astroseconds, until my catches pulled back and allowed my transfluid to stream into her.

After a few more thrusts I slumped down against her in satisfaction. Where we stayed for a few kliks at least.

Then she giggled. "Do you feel better?"

I rolled us over so that I was on my back and she was laying on top of me. "Yes I do."

She ran her servos in small circles over my chassis. "That's good."

I ran my servo up and down her back, careful of her soft spot. "You're a great stress reliever Athe. I don't know what I would do without you."

She looked up at me with sparkling optics. "I don't know what I'd do without you and Sides. You two make me so happy."

A flash of red suddenly crashed into the two of us. "AWWWWW! YOU MAKE US HAPPY TOO PRINCESS!"

Athena screeched as Sides nearly knocked us both off of the berth. "SIDES! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

I glared at my twin while he somehow managed to make himself look innocent. "I was just making sure that you know that we both love you!"

"Well you could've just said it instead of almost knocking us off the berth Sides." I growled at him. "You could've hurt Athena!"

The last part of my statement did succeed in making him look guilty. He shifted closer and cupped Athena's face gently. "Did I hurt you Princess?"

"No. No I'm fine Sides. You just startled me is all."

He smiled in relief. "That's good. So are you and Sunny having fun? I heard the end of your little romp from outside your front door."

"SIDES!"

"Smooth Sides… Real smooth…"

He shrugged. "Well it's true. That's what sucks about living in an apartment. You have little to no privacy."

I raised an optic ridge at him when I got where this was going. Not that I was going to try and stop him from pestering her about this, since we'd talked about it a few times, and both agreed that we'd like her to come live with us. But so far we hadn't bothered her about it again.

"It is how it is Sides. This is my home."

"For now… But you could come and live with us."

"Sides… I already told you two that I can't just up and leave! Do you know how much I'd owe the owner of the building if I broke my lease?"

"We'll help you pay the fee." He pressed.

Her optics nearly bugged out of their sockets. "No! I can't ask you two to do that!"

"Technically we're offering, not asking you to let us." I pointed out calmly.

"Still… I can't take you up on that offer. It wouldn't feel right."

"How about we play a game?" Sides suggested.

"What kind of game?"

"Rock, paper, scissors."

"What's that?"

"It's a game that I learned on earth," Sides went on to explain the specifics of the game to her.

"Oh… I see. I'm not sure that I want to play since I know what will happen if I lose."

"Aww c'mon Princess! There's a fifty-fifty chance that you'll win! And even if you lose, moving in with us isn't going to be that bad!"

"You're really persistent."

"It's an art."

She shook her helm. "I'm not going to rely on a silly game to make a decision like this."

Sides pouted at her. "Please?"

Wow he was really pushing it today…

"Sides…"

"C'mon Princess! You know that you want to…"

"Is this about the whole moving thing? Or is it really that you're so bored that playing this game is appealing to you? Because if that's what this is all about I can suggest quite a few things we can do to curb that boredom." She ranted, then became flustered when she apparently realized what she had just said. "Er… um… never mind!"

Sides grinned mischievously. "Oh? Well don't mind if I do take you up on that offer…" He purred as he started stripping. "But don't think that I'm going to let this subject go. I'm a very persistent mech when I want something…"

She shivered when he pulled her off of me and rolled her onto her back. "I noticed…"

He chuckled as they came flush together. "You'll learn to love it…"

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I was lost in thought as I walked home after another long shift in the med bay.

Sides really was one of the most persistent mechs I'd ever met. Over a deca-cycle had gone by since the day that the two had broached the subject of me moving in with them again, and since that day Sides rarely let a day go by without bringing it up in some way.

It wasn't that I didn't want to live with them or anything… I just wasn't sure if any of us were ready for that level of commitment. That and it was a big step to take when we'd only been together as a threesome for a few deca-cycles! What if they decided to break up with me later? What if things just didn't work out, or they got tired of me?

Then where would I go? What would I do? Neither of them were relenting though, and now even Sunny brought it up every once in a while…

That was the reason I left base without them, so that I could have some time to think about things without the pressure. They'd probably be upset with me when they found out that I'd already left, but I needed some space.

Once again, it wasn't that I didn't want to live with them… So why not just toss the insecurities aside and just wing it?

No… that wasn't a good idea. A decision this important couldn't be made on a whim… Yes… Just do it! What could possibly go wrong? They could break up with me… But they won't! But they could…!

All of a sudden my comm link went off, and I answered it without paying attention to who it was. **:Hello?:**

 **:Where are you?:**

Should've figured they'd find out pretty quick. **:On my way home.:**

 **:Aww Princess… Why didn't you wait for us?:**

 **:I have a lot on my processor right now… I just needed a few kliks to clear my helm.:**

 **:So should we just go home then? Or do you want us to come over?:**

I bit my lip in thought. We did need to talk about their persistence… and what I was going to do. Maybe it would be better to wait for a while to discuss it though? Aww scrap! I wanted to see them anyways… just after I had a walk to clear my thoughts. **:Come over.:**

 **:Ok. We'll be there in a few.:**

 **:Ok.:**

I finally made it to my building at that moment, walking inside and making my way up to my apartment. Immediately upon walking inside I noticed several things that were off…

First: Was the dead silence that greeted me. Normally my companions would be clicking or screeching up a storm in their excitement. But that was obviously missing.

Second: The disarray my living room was in. Data pads that had been neatly stacked on the table were scattered all over the floor and the table was laying on it's side, my entertainment center was ransacked, games and other devices laying haphazardly on the floor.

Third: My fuel prep room was a mess. Energon cubes were scattered all over the floor, the cupboards were all open, and even the fridge door was ajar as well.

And fourth: My berthroom door was open, as well as my studio… Both of which I had closed, and in the case of my studio, had been locked as well…

Ever so slowly I backed up, stopping only to grab Sparky and Topaz without taking my optics off of the hallway, then I backed up through the entry way and into the hallway outside. Once I was safely outside, I turned and made my way towards the stairs, only to freeze as the twins came around the corner just before I rounded it.

They looked at me in surprise. "Princess? What are you doing? Why do you have Sparky and Topaz?"

"Somebot was in my apartment."

Both perked up in alarm. "What?!"

"Somebot was in my apartment." I repeated fearfully. "It's a mess…"

Sunny's expression darkened. "I'll go make sure nobot is still in there." With that he pushed passed me to walk into my apartment.

"Should we really let him go in there alone?"

"He'll be fine. You should be more worried about anybot he finds in there." Sides tried to joke.

I felt my door wings twitch with each astrosecond that went by…

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Five…

And they went on and on for almost a breem, until he finally came back out with a livid expression on his face. I didn't really understand why he would be mad if nobot was in there.

He stopped in front of me. "Nobot's in there."

"Well that's good right?"

I stared at him when he said nothing. "Sunny?"

He growled angrily. "They destroyed your studio…"

It felt like my tanks literally dropped through my peds… Then I was rushing passed him to see just what he was taking about! I felt like I was having a spark attack, like my spark was being constricted to the point of being snuffed out!

And it only got worse as I raced into what remained of my studio…

It was in tatters…

Every painting was laying torn and shredded along the floor…

Every can of paint was splattered all over the bay window…

My paintbrushes had each bristle torn out of them… and some were snapped in half.

My easel was broken into dozens of pieces…

Everything was destroyed… even the painting of the Merfemme, and the one of the Crystal Gardens that I had just finished working on for Sunny…

Coolant pooled in my optics as I fell to my knees with an anguished cry, hunching forward to bury my face in my servos after letting Sparky and Topaz go. It felt like somebot had literally ripped my chest plates open and stomped on my spark casing!

Painting was an art of expression. It was how I told stories of all the things I could never say… It was how I channeled all the things I was feeling inside. Good or bad. They existed in physical form on my canvases. And now they were all gone.

It felt like everything I'd gotten rid of just got sucked back into me in a torrent of raging emotions.

Nobot bothered me for an amount of time that I didn't care to keep track of. I didn't even know where my mechs were, or if they were watching me, or what they were doing or thinking.

Until a large frame pressed itself against my back. "Come on Athena."

I looked up at the blurry face of Sunny.

"We need to get your things around so we can go."

"W-What?"

"You're coming to stay with us."

For once I didn't resist him when he pulled me up and led me passed Sides' who was standing in the doorway with a look of concern residing on his features. Sunny took me into my berthroom and grabbed a portable subspace cube.

"Put anything essential in this for now. We'll come back for the rest later."

"What are you… Why do I need to bring that much?"

"Because you're moving in with us."

"Sunny I already said that I can't do that." I argued weakly.

He started stuffing things into the subspace cube on his own. "You're not staying here! Somebot got in while you were out! What if he was still in here? What if we weren't coming over? You could've been hurt!"

Sides came in while he was ranting. "Sunny's right. This could have ended badly if whoever broke in was still here. Well that, and if we weren't here."

I stepped into Sunny's path to stop him. "That doesn't mean I can break my lease and move!"

He gently pushed me aside and started stuffing my detailing stuff into the cube. "That's exactly what it means."

"Sunny…!"

"Put your pets in a carrier. Sides go take the cages apart and store them in this." He handed Sides another subspace cube, which he took before disappearing out the door.

"Sunny I-!"

He turned and stared me down seriously. "Go and put your pets in their carrier."

"Sunny I can't just leave!"

"Yes you can. And you will, otherwise I'll carry you out kicking and screaming. We're not letting you stay here when somebot broke in! What if they come back when we're not here? We're not taking the chance of letting anything happen to you! Now go do what I told you to!" He turned me and tapped me on the aft to get me moving.

Oh… Was this a good or a bad thing?

* * *

A joor or so later found me in the twins' living room, watching Sides put Sparky and Topaz's cages together while the two stream gliders sat on my lap napping. Sunny was currently upstairs putting my things away in a few spaces they'd cleared out in their berthroom and wash racks.

I guess there really was no way of talking them out of it huh?

At least they both seemed happy, especially Sides if his cheerful humming was any indication. Every few kliks he'd turn and chat with me, smiling brightly like a youngling who just got the best present for their spark orn. It was obvious that he was happy to have won our little stalemate…

Of course he chose that moment to turn back towards me after finally finishing the cages. "Ok Princess! They're both set up!" He walked over to take the two stream gliders from me, and from there he deposited them in their respective cages. Once done with that, he turned and made his way over to plop down next to me on the couch.

It was weird to be here… Well weird considering the fact that I was supposed to call this place home from now on… or at least for a while. I guess they really had beat me in the contest of wills when it came to getting me to do what they wanted this time around.

"So…" He trailed off in uncertainty.

I turned to look at him expectantly, and for once he actually looked like he was struggling to figure out what to say. Which was weird since he was a natural born conversationalist. "Yes?"

"Uh… I know that you're not in the greatest mood but… do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"I should probably go help Sunny set my things up."

"Nah he's got it Princess. He's really particular about where he puts things, and where he wants his stuff so it's best to just leave it to him for now. Besides, you've had a stressful day and you need to relax."

"But Sides…"

Sunny chose that moment to come striding into the room. "No point in arguing anymore. I already finished putting your things away."

"You two are impossible to deal with!"

He plopped down with a shrug. "You'll learn how to deal with us."

I scowled at him. "You two are relentless you know that?"

Both looked at me with smug smirks. "So we've been told Athe."

"You know that as soon as anybot finds out I moved in here my creators, Cee, and Uncle Ratchet are going to be beating down your door right?"

At least they had enough sense to cringe at that statement. "Let's just put off telling them for as long as possible." Sides muttered.

"Hmm… the only problem with that is the fact that Cee and Flareup come over to visit almost daily, and my creators stop by at least once or twice a quartex if their work schedules aren't too busy. So… I'd give it a day or two at most before somebot finds out, then the whole base will know within a few joors. That or somebot will report me missing tomorrow when I'm not there, then a search party will be sent out to look for me."

"You're purposefully trying to scare us right now Princess."

"Mm hmm… Is it working?" I half expected them to deny it.

"Yes." Sides grumbled.

"Good. Now behave."

"Maybe you should behave? Otherwise I won't take you to the art store in the morning so that we can set up your own workspace in my studio."

I whipped around so fast that I got whiplash. "What?"

Sunny raised an optic ridge at me. "I said that I'm going to take you to the art store so we can replace all your stuff, then I'm going to clear a space for you to use when you're painting. It's the only option we have really, since we do need the guest room in case Smoke decides to crash for a night sometimes."

"I can sketch out here…"

He scowled. "You can sketch anywhere, but I was meaning a space to paint. There's not enough room out here to set up a space, and there's no privacy. I know that I need it to concentrate, and I figured you would want it too. That's why I decided to split my workspace with you."

"You don't have to Sunny…"

"I want to. Not stop arguing with me."

I slumped dejectedly. "I just don't want to impose…"

"You're not. I offered to let you use my space."

"Ok…"

Sides wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "This is your home now too Princess! You can go wherever you want to!"

I leaned into his chassis. "I'm not going to act like I own the place."

They both rolled their optics at me. "Don't be like that Athe. We practically forced you to come stay here, and we won't treat you like a guest. You live here now."

"Can I at least pay half the bills?"

Sunny rolled his optics at me again. "No."

"Some of the utilities?"

"No."

"Sewage?"

"No. We make more than enough to pay it and have a ton to spare."

"At least let me help with the house payment."

"No Athena. No. No. No. No! No fragging way!"

"Why not?" I protested.

"Because we don't need you to do that! We didn't ask you to come because we needed monetary help! We asked you to come here so that you would be safe, and because we want you here."

I bit my lip anxiously… "I don't care why you asked me to come here! I want to help with something!"

"Athena…" Both growled.

"You two…" I growled back.

It had the effect of making Sides grin deviously. "Oooh! Your growl sounds so cute and sexy! How about you just give us lots of loving each night in exchange for us letting you live here? I'm cool with that."

I scowled at him when that hit a sore spot. "Sides I am not going to frag in exchange for room and board. I'm not a pleasurebot."

He spluttered for a moment. "I didn't mean it that way Princess! I just meant that we love making love to you, so we could just do that all the time and call it good? It's better than credits could ever be!"

My cheeks exploded in a deep blush, spark hammering a little harder in my chassis. Neither had ever referred to our berth activities as making love… I'd never even presumed to refer to it that way, for fear of how they would react to it. I didn't want to put pressure on them…

It left me completely stupefied… "You… I… M-Make l-love?"

Sides blinked. "That's what I said. Why?"

"I… I've never met a mech who refers to it that way… It's just… it's always just a frag…" I admitted quietly.

Realization dawned in their optics. "It's not like that with us Princess. We care about you too much for it to be just a frag."

My spark sang at the notion of them holding me in such high regard. They made me feel special and loved. Nobot ever had before…

I don't know what I looked like, or what the expression on my face was like, but Sides leaned in closer like he was worried or something. "Princess? Are you okay?"

I swallowed heavily. "Yes. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He pressed.

I nodded even as the blush on my cheeks intensified with the words I spoke next. "Well… c-could we… make love then? Like now?"

Just like that both of their expressions became heated, then Sunny swept me up deftly. "Definitely."

"We do need to christen this place as your home too Princess." Sides purred.

I giggled as they practically ran to the berthroom.

Maybe living here wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

R&R!


	23. Chapter 23: Dinner Table Death Matches

I want to keep what's going to happen in this one a secret so… No Author's Note today! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! Also I changed up the poll on my profile page so please check it out again if you already have, or check in for the first time if you haven't yet! I'm always tempted to do more Twins/OC fics, but I do want to switch it up a bit! Man it's hard to stray from these twin fics though!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

How did I know that I'd somehow end up being cornered somewhere on base within days of the twins forcing me to move in with them? More like only two days had passed since then, and now Danni, Cee, Flareup, and even Opi had cornered me in the rec room after I got off shift.

Now I was on the receiving end of… _**'the look.'**_

Danni put her servos on her hips and tapped her ped against the floor agitatedly. "Why is it that I went to see you last night and nobot was home? And when I asked to be let into your apartment it was almost completely empty save for the larger garniture?"

I cringed… There was absolutely no way that this could end well… "Well… I… moved…"

She scowled at me. "Athena you just moved into that apartment a few deca-cycles ago! Why would you break your lease and move? Better yet where would you go? It's not like you're staying with Arcee, or even Optimus and I…" She trailed off as her optics widened. "You… You didn't…"

I knew exactly what she was thinking, it was blaring over the bond along with her shock and protectiveness. "Um…"

"You moved in with the twins?!"

"Well… I had a good reason… and I am dating them you know?"

Her scowl intensified, as Cee joined in and gave me the same aggravated look. Was it that hard to believe or accept that I had moved in with those two? I mean thanks to Sides and his public displays of affection everybot knew that I was dating both of them. And well… the day after the glueshooter incident when we both got confronted by Prowl… Sides had opted to pull me into an intense make out session for the sole purpose of making the SIC glitch so that we could get away… And since then the rumors hadn't stopped flying…

Along with the lectures about whether I really knew what I was getting into… along with other things…

"What reason could possibly be good enough to make a decision like that? So soon after you started… dating them?" The word dating sounded almost like poison coming out of her mouth.

When would she accept my choices? Why did she seem to think I was some youngling that would never grow up enough to make decisions for myself?

I slumped dejectedly under the glares the two were giving me. If she was angry now it'd only get worse when they found out that somebot broke into my apartment while I was out, which led to me getting roped into living with the twins. "Somebot broke into my apartment."

"What?!"

I cringed at the chorus of outbursts. "I said that somebot broke into my apartment the day before yesterday. They weren't there when I got home, but they tore the place apart."

Cee slid closer to rest a servo on my arm. "So you're okay then? Nobot hurt you?"

I shook my helm. "No. Sides and Sunny showed up within a few kliks of me finding out, and Sunny made sure that nobot was still there."

"So you have no idea who broke in sweetspark?"

"None. I think it was just a robbery, because a few things were missing."

"Why didn't you contact one of us? We would have come over!"

Maybe because I had no chance to do anything really? My two overbearing mechs had dragged me out of there before the thought had even occurred to me. "Well… the twins kind of shoved all my stuff into some portable subspaces… and dragged me out of there. And well, the whole, _**'you're coming to live with us because it's safer'**_ thing, kind of threw me off so much that I completely forgot about anything else."

Just like that Danni was scowling again. "I think it's time that we had a little get-together with those two mechs…"

Oh no…!

"Elita calm yourself." Opi rumbled at her. "There is no need to react in such a volatile manner."

It was probably a good thing that she had the bond between us partially blocked so that I couldn't hear her thoughts, because I was honestly afraid to know what was going on in her processor. Not that I didn't have a good idea but… "Danni please don't start an anti-twins campaign!"

"Oh I'm not going to… I just want to have a little talk with them…"

"Elita…" Opi started hesitantly.

"Oh hush Optimus! It's only fair that our femmling brings her mechfriends over to meet us formally right?"

"Um, you two already know them." I pointed out.

Her optics hardened. "As frontliners and players! I'm not one hundred percent sure that they've changed, so you're going to bring them to our place tonight for dinner! We're all going to have a nice long talk about the consequences of them doing anything to hurt you!"

"But…!"

"Tonight Athena. I expect to see you at 18:00 joors and no later! And if I have to come find you three… it will not be pretty!" With that she turned and dragged Opi out of the rec room, leaving me standing there with Cee and Flareup.

Both of which were wearing highly amused expressions. "So… dinner with your creators and your mechfriends…" Cee started.

"Sounds like it might be fun after all the butchering is over with!" Flareup finished…

I scowled at them. "Oh shut up and go to work already!"

With that I stormed out into the hallway, tearing through the base towards the clock out area where I knew the twins should be right about now. I hope that they had an easy patrol shift so that neither would be too stressed about what was coming later tonight…

When I got there both were milling around with Smokescreen near the clock. While they were doing that Hot Rod was sitting closest to the door at one of the tables, playing with some game device. It'd been a long time since I'd seen him, since I was transferred to New Polyhex, and he was sent to New Vos. I was actually surprised that he was back!

He looked up with a smirk as I passed. "Hey Athena! Long time no see!"

I stopped next to his table. "Hello Hot Rod." I greeted him politely. "How have you been?"

"Good! I just got transferred back from New Vos! Now that place is crazy sometimes! Reminds me of Los Vegas!"

"Los Vegas?"

"Ah, a city on Earth… Anyway it's a crazy place! New Vos reminds me of it though with all its' lights, casinos, pleasurebots, and all that good stuff! I'm actually kinda sad to be back in New Iacon really, but at the same time I'm happy to be back too. Weird huh?"

"I suppose."

He patted the tabletop invitingly. "Come and sit for a few! We can catch up a bit!"

"Actually… I have a lot to take care of today so I don't have time. Maybe we can talk later?"

"Ah that's cool. Hey maybe we can go out for some energon later? We can catch up then!"

A large servo clamped down on my shoulder before I could respond to him. "She's taken Hot Rod." Sunny growled, not giving Hot Rod a chance to respond before he tugged me back towards the door, passed Sides who was scowling in Hot Rod's direction.

He dragged me out of the base, and all the way back to their housing unit without speaking. Once we made it inside though he let go of me and stormed upstairs for some reason. I watched him go, before turning towards Sides in confusion. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's mad about Hot Rod hitting on you."

I blinked in confusion, because I had no idea what he was talking about. "Um, I have no idea what you're talking about. We were just talking."

He looked at me confusedly too. "Princess he was hitting on you. How can you not know that?"

Him asking me to go out for energon was considered hitting on me? I was honestly confused… "But I… we're just friends… I don't even like Hot Rod like that."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and steered me into the living room. "I can see that, but Hot Rod was hitting on you Princess… And Sunny can be a bit possessive so he's… a little irritated at the moment. He's not mad at you though so don't worry."

My door wings slumped as we sat down on the couch. "I didn't even realize… I never even thought about it that way… Maybe I should go talk to him?"

"Give him a few kliks to clear his helm first."

"Ok…"

"You wanna watch a movie or something?"

"No not really."

He hummed thoughtfully. "Well… what do you want to do then?"

Well… more like what did I need to do now… Explain to these two that my Danni had demanded that they come over to her and Opi's place later tonight… for a talk… I was scared to know what exactly this talk would entail…

All of a sudden a fluttering sensation started up in the space between my shoulder and neck. My optics shot down to where Sides had somehow nestled his face there and was kissing the cabling gently. His mischievous optics drifted up to lock on my face as his lips tilted up at the edges in a smirk.

I giggled. "What are you doing Sides?"

He nipped at one of the more sensitive cables. "Kissing you."

"You can kiss me somewhere else you know?"

He sat back up and pulled me against his front. "Oh I know that… But I like hearing that sweet giggle of yours Princess."

I slid my arms up around his neck, gently trailing my servos up the back of his helm. But I didn't do or say anything else.

"Is something bothering you Princess? I mean you're acting like normal but… at the same time you're being more quiet than usual too."

I bit my lip nervously, but I needed to wait until Sunny came down to talk about this. So I just forced myself not to worry about it at the moment, and I leaned forward to press my lips against Sides' own.

He pressed back while gently running his servos over my hips. After a moment he pulled back. "Is this your way of trying to tell me that you want some loving Princess? Because if that's the case I can more than accommodate your request."

I blushed. "I just… today wasn't the best day…"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"After Sunny comes down."

He pouted. "You can't just talk to me when something's bothering you?"

"It's not like that Sides… It's just something that I need to discuss with both of you."

"Should I be afraid?"

"Depends on how you want to look at it?" I answered honestly.

He cringed. "Really reassuring Princess."

Primus… Why was the thought of taking my mechs to dinner with my creators so processor-racking? Maybe because I was nervous that they'd scare Sides and Sunny off? Danni was certainly being confrontational and volatile, and there was a limit to how much Opi could do to stop her.

The thoughts were making my helm hurt. I let it fall against Sides' shoulder as I groaned. "Oh… why me?"

"Princess?"

Too much stress… Too much…

Sides eased his servo under my chin and forced me to look up. "Ok what's going on? You're practically shaking in your plating! Did something happen?"

Oh the worst was still to come…

"Princess?" He stared down at me expectantly.

I bit my lip nervously…

"Say something Princess!"

It didn't seem like he was going to let it go…

"Athena…? Hello?!"

Why did he have to push so much when I told him that Sunny needed to come down before I could talk about it?

He opened his mouth to pester me again, and I just reacted by instantly leaning up and pressing my lips against his again, resulting in him releasing a muffled sound when he tried to speak anyways. I moved my lips against his slowly, pressing myself as close to him as possible.

After a moment his arms slid between my wings, massaging the spinal strut while being careful of the soft spot, and he pressed back gently. He turned and laid me out beneath him after a klik, settling between my legs comfortably as he picked up the pace a bit.

I splayed my servos over his chassis, rubbing up and down as he licked at my bottom lip to get me to open my mouth for him. I allowed him to slip inside to tangle with my own glossa, moaning softly when his sodpiece grinded over my valve covering.

"Are you two going to get it on right there on the couch?"

We pulled apart in time to see Sunny standing over us with a scowl present on his face.

Sides grinned. "Well I was thinking about it…"

Sunny smacked him over the helm. "Shut up and move so I can sit down!"

Sides pulled me up with a sour grumble. "So bossy…"

"Shut it." Sunny deadpanned as he plopped down on my right side.

I hesitantly scooted closer to him. "Sunny…? Are you still mad?"

He sighed. "I wasn't mad at you."

I slid up onto all fours and crawled as close as possible, prompting him to turn and look down at me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure Athe. I was just tempted to knock Hot Rod's helm off for hitting on you like that. If I hadn't left when I did I'm sure I would have actually beat him up."

I was a little surprised that he was willing to take it that far… "Sunny… you don't have to feel that way… I don't even like Hot Rod like that… If anything he's been permanently friend zoned."

They looked at me in surprise. "Where did you learn that terminology from?"

"Flareup."

"Ah…well that makes sense."

"Mm hmm… I may not understand all Earth terminology, but what you two don't teach me, Flareup and Cee probably will. I don't know many terms, but that's actually one I learned long before I met you!"

Sunny snorted. "Just because you friend zoned him doesn't mean it's mutual. He was encroaching on what's ours!"

I crawled onto his lap with a sigh. "You're being ridiculous."

He scowled. "How am I being ridiculous by getting mad about other mechs hitting on you?"

"Because I don't care about any of them that way. So as far as I'm concerned you have nothing to worry about. And besides… we have more pressing matters to discuss at the moment."

"What could be more important than this?" He challenged me.

"How about the fact that my adoptive creators cornered me and demanded that we come over for dinner tonight? And Danni… well she said that it won't end well for us if she has to come hunt us down. So I think for your own good we should just go."

From the corner of my optic I saw Sides actually shudder. "Is she going to shoot us?"

"No… I think Opi will keep her in line… At least I hope so…"

"That's not very reassuring Athena." Sunny grumbled. "Should I bring weapons for my own protection? Or are they going to have us frisked at the door so that we're completely at her mercy?"

"You don't need weapons Sunny. Opi and I won't let her shoot you two I promise."

"Princess? I'm just curious as to how you'll stop her if she tries?"

I turned towards Sides with a flick of my door wings. "Um, it's called stepping in front of you if she tries to shoot you? That way she has to shoot me to succeed in hitting you. And she won't take that chance. Trust me."

He blinked at me in surprise. "Um… is that really your full proof method of preventing her from murdering us?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

They exchanged a glance. "I don't think we should go… unless we want to either be killed, or accidentally cause your premature demise." Sunny muttered.

"She won't kill me."

"But she might try and kill us… and in doing so accidentally kill you when you move to block it."

I threw my arms up in the air exasperatedly. "Sunny if we don't go there will be more than just a one femme search party with guns! She'll call on every femme or mech on base that is willing to join in on the bot-hunt! That means anybot that Sides was dumb enough to prank even!"

Said mech cringed. "That's a lot…"

"Yeah I know, that's why I said it."

Sunny turned to scowl at his brother. "The one time that you actually regret all the pranks… and how they're going to come back to bite us in the aft!"

"Well if I knew this would happen I would-!"

"Have still done it anyways." Sunny finished.

"Probably. But admitting it doesn't help us avoid this situation Sunny! We have to think of some way to prevent ourselves from getting killed tonight!"

"How about we not go? Lock the doors, block the windows, and barricade ourselves in the berthroom with a good supply of energon."

Normally I might agree with the suggestion, but I had the sneaking suspicion that Danni was doing this to gauge how the twins felt for me, and how serious they were about the relationship. If they didn't show up… I was almost one hundred percent sure that she'd come find me here, break down the door, take all my belongings, and force me to move back in with her and Opi… In that case I'd be lucky to ever see the twins again outside of work!

But if they didn't want to go I wouldn't make them. I'd accept the fact that they really weren't ready to face meeting my creators. "If you don't want to go that's fine. But you should know that this is her way of gauging our relationship. I suspect that if you don't show up she'll come here and drag me out of here kicking and screaming, and make me stay with them."

Sides lunged forward to hug me around my midsection. "Will she really do that?!"

"Yes she will. She can be a bit… overbearing and overprotective at times. If she decides that she's no ok with this situation, she'll do her level best to interfere. She's always been that way."

"You're an adult though! You should be able to make your own decisions without her thinking she can undermine you like that!"

"I've tried telling her that too…" I sighed tiredly, shaking my helm to clear it after a moment. "Look we either go or that's the other option! I won't force you to if you really don't want to, but I think she expects you two not to show up."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because she thinks you two are just players. And if that's the case why bother going through with this?" With that I stood and ambled into the prep room to get some energon, with them following after me.

"Ok that was kind of brutal Princess."

I grabbed a cube from the cupboard, popped the top, and hefted myself up onto the counter with a shrug. "I never said I think that. She thinks that about you."

"Don't you at least try convincing her that it's not like that?"

I raised an optic ridge at Sunny over the rim of my cube. "Danni is the type that needs to see something to believe it. I've tried convincing her too many times to count, and we've argued about the subject just as often. She won't be swayed until she finds whatever it is she's looking for."

"Which is…?"

I stared them straight in the optics. "Proof that you really have changed, and that I'm not blinded by love or whatever it is she thinks."

They exchanged another look, before sighing. "Fine. We'll go. But as soon as weapons come out to play we're running as fast as we can in the other direction."

I hopped down from the counter, stopping to toss my empty energon cube into the trash compactor. Once that was done I walked up to them and took one of their servos in each of mine. "Just relax… Everything will work out just fine. I'll have Opi frisk Danni and hide her weapons… and if things still go south we can run! Sound good?"

Both stared at me with deadpan expressions. "That's not comforting."

I sighed tiredly. "Well since all my attempts to comfort you so far have been unsuccessful, how can I help you?"

In an instant Sides had gone from looking nervous, to giving me his version of, _**'the look.'**_ "Oh I can think of a few things that we can do to pass the time and relieve some stress…"

"Pervert."

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

"I need you two to promise me that you'll be on your best behavior ok? Just stay close to me, answer Danni's questions, and for the love of Primus do not let her smell your fear!"

I cringed as my spark pulsed in anxiety. That in no way made either of us feel any better about entering the rather plain, large white housing unit that the Prime and his mate called home. "Um, Princess? Now that you said that I'm kinda scared to go in there…"

She turned towards me with her own look of anxiety present on those delicate features. "Sides… what did I say about letting her smell your fear? Just calm down…"

"How can I calm down when you keep saying that?"

"Sides I'm just as nervous as you are! I'd rather just be back at your place than walking into a raging storm!"

"Then let's turn and run while we still have legs to run on!"

Sunny latched onto my arm to prevent me from doing just that. "Sides we're already here and we're not going to leave now! Let's just get this over with!"

I tugged to get him to let go but he wasn't budging. "Sunny let go! I love Princess, but I want to keep my limbs attached! It's hard to do anything, especially interface with her without them!"

Athena blushed heavily. "Shhh! Don't make comments like that when it's possible that they could hear you!"

"They're inside! How can they hear me?!"

"Danni might have rigged the outside of the house with vid feed cameras!"

"Seriously?!"

"It's possible…" She shuffled her peds across the ground nervously, shaking her helm after a moment and steeling herself before taking our servos in both of hers. "Let's just go ok?! The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get back home and get some recharge!"

With that she dragged us straight into certain demise…

"Opi? Danni? We're here!" She called out once we passed the main entryway.

A flash of pink came shooting around the corner of what looked to be the living room. "There you are! I told you to be here at 18:00 joors young lady! You're a breem late!" Elita-1 growled as she came to a stop in front of us, normally bright blue optics, now stained a rather stormy color, locked on us and not Athena. "Sideswipe. Sunstreaker."

I cringed. "Hey Elita."

She snorted. "It's Lady Prime to you."

"Oh… ok."

"Come in and we'll have our… chat…" She almost seemed to perk up at the prospect of said chat, turning and leading us through the living room and into a large fuel prep room where Optimus was sitting at the table reading something in a data pad.

"Just relax… I'll protect you from her." Athena whispered to us.

How she was going to accomplish that I had no idea… But we didn't protest as we were led to the table.

"You two sit there! Athena you sit over here!" Elita gestured for us to sit across from her, and Athena, while Optimus stayed at the head of the table.

I slunk down into my chair like a kicked petro puppy, while Sunny sat down on my left stiffly. Meaning I somehow got stuck right next to Optimus, who had discarded his data pads and was watching us. I cringed even though he wasn't looking hostile yet…

Elita left and returned with a tray of energon cubes, which she passed out to each of us before sitting down next to Optimus. "So… how are you treating our femmling?"

Damn she got straight to the point… "We treat her good."

She narrowed her optics at us. "Just good?"

Athena groaned. "Danni…"

"Hush! Let me talk to your mechfriends! And you two answer my question!"

"We treat her well, like Sides said." Sunny answered.

She leaned forward on her elbows. "And by treating her well you mean that you're being faithful right?"

Athena was going to take a drink of her energon at the moment Elita asked that, and she ended up spitting it all over the table as a result. "DANNI! THEY AREN'T CHEATING ON ME! PRIMUS! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT FOR YOU TO GET IT?!"

"I want them to look me in the optics and say they aren't cheating! I want them to fragging mean it! Otherwise…"

I shivered at the look of death in those stormy blue optics.

But it was Sunny who leaned forward to match her posture and look her in the optics. "We would never cheat on Athena. It's never even crossed our processors."

Elita snorted. "You expect me to believe that when Sideswipe is shaking in his chair like that?"

"You look scary right now!" I whimpered.

She slammed her servos down on the table and shot up from her chair. "I ONLY LOOK SCARY BECAUSE YOU PROBABLY HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE!"

Optimus reached out and grabbed her by the arm to prevent any maiming from happening. "Elita calm yourself."

"LOOK ME IN THE OPTICS AND TELL ME THAT YOU AREN'T CHEATING ON HER EITHER SIDESWIPE!"

I threw my servos up defensively. "I'm not! I would never do that!"

She nearly lunged over the table. "PROVE IT!"

Athena grabbed her by the arm and wrestled her back over to the opposite side, stopping her just microns from reaching Sunny and I as we scrambled back to avoid being struck by her. "DANNI SIT DOWN!"

She ended up yanking Elita back into her seat with a fair bit of effort, well that and Optimus had to assist her when she struggled a bit with the larger pink femme. "Elita I asked you not to become violent tonight." Optimus reprimanded her.

She just huffed angrily. "You should've known that I would act like this! I just don't understand how you can support this relationship Optimus!"

"It is Athena's choice to pursue this relationship. We have no right to interfere with what makes her happy."

"But it's those two! I don't trust them with her as far as I can throw them!"

I felt Sunny's end of the bond spike with anger and agitation. **(Calm down bro…)**

He ignored me in favor of shooting out of his seat. "Look Lady Prime, I don't care what you think of the things we've done in the past! Or even what your personal opinion of us may be! The fact of the matter is that we are with Athena, and nothing you say or do can change that! We won't let you take her from us!"

Three sets of optics locked on him, one shocked, another torn between anger and something else that I couldn't quite figure out, and the last seeming somewhat surprised.

"Oh so just because you claim her that means that I can't stop this? Why should I entrust my one and only sparkling to you?!"

"BECAUSE WE LOVE HER DAMN IT!"

I gaped at my twin along with everybot else, even Athena who was looking at him in a mixture of awe and adoration… Call me crazy but… I think we were going to get lucky again tonight!

"Scrap…" My twin muttered while caught under the intense stares.

 **(What are you saying scrap for? Do you see the look on Athena's face?! We are so getting some more loving when we get home!)**

 **(Sides… I don't… I didn't mean to say that… I mean I did but…)**

 **(You don't like saying stuff like that in front of others. That's ok Sunny, but sometimes it's necessary.)**

 **(I just… only wanted it to be for her audios to hear.)**

"Very well then, that is all I needed to hear." Optimus spoke up, drawing our attention to him. "I give you two my consent to court Athena."

Elita turned to stare at him in shock. "Optimus!"

He held a servo up to silence her. "That is enough Elita. I can tell just from the look in both of their optics that Sunstreaker spoke the absolute truth. If they truly do love her then we cannot stand in the way of their happiness."

Elita sighed, looking like she wanted to fight but knew she'd lose. "Fine… but if they do anything to hurt her I'll hunt them down and mount their afts on the living room wall!"

Athena actually squealed and latched onto Elita. "Thank you Danni!"

Elita huffed. "You're welcome… But I meant what I just said… especially if you two cheat on her…" She glared at us.

I held my servos up defensively. "Got it! We wouldn't even think of hurting Athena! Promise!"

She continued staring us both down for a few more kliks… "Fine… Now do any of you want some spiced oil cake? I tried that recipe you gave me Athena. Only took me nine tries to get it right."

"Sounds good."

"I'll go get it."

Athena skipped around to our side of the table and squeezed in between us. "See? Everything turned out ok!"

Sunny sighed. "Femme… you're so lucky we care about you enough to put ourselves through these things."

She giggled. "I know!"

I took her small servo in mine, unconcerned with the Prime who was watching us interact. "What Sunny means to say is we love you enough to take risks like this."

She blushed. "Sides…! Shhhh!"

Primus I loved this femme!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Well I was very relieved that things went as well as they did tonight when there were so many ways they could have ended badly… But in the end my creators had finally accepted the fact that I wanted to be with these two, well grudgingly on Danni's part, but it was a start!

And now we were back at their place after enjoying some spiced oil cake, and a nice non-threatening chat with Opi and Danni.

"Well that was terrifying!" Sides exclaimed as he plopped down on the couch.

I sat down next to him. "Oh it wasn't that bad!"

Sunny sat down on my other side and tossed an arm around my shoulders. "Athena… we've never actually gone to meet one of our femmefriend's creators before. That was terrifying on quite a few different levels."

"Well I like to think that it went well considering the fact that you two are still alive and in one piece."

He grunted. "That is a good thing I guess."

I leaned my helm on his chassis. "Mm hmm… And I was really surprised when you came right out and said you love me in front of them even if I know you didn't mean to."

"Well… it's the truth so…"

My spark fluttered at those words. "I know… and I love you both too."

Sides cuddled up to me from behind. "We love you too Princess."

I hummed quietly. "I know…" Hitching a leg over Sunny's lap, I slid up onto it to straddle him.

"Oooh I think I like where this is going!" Sides purred.

"Who says I'm in that kind of mood?" I teased him. To be honest I was actually really in the mood after Sunny's declaration. I was pretty sure that I got off on them claiming me and being so possessive!

Sunny trailed his servos down to cup my aft. "Your frame says it."

"Well if you know that why are we still sitting on the couch?"

They both stared at me. "You're not shy anymore are you Princess?" Sides grinned.

I stalled out at that comment, because it really was true. I hardly ever stuttered or acted meek around either of them anymore… I was much more open and confident when we were together, laughing, joking, being playful…

"Wow… you're right…"

"Yup! You still have your moments where you're timid, but you've really opened up Princess! I love it!"

"Well… you two have made me more confident for some reason…"

Sides leaned closer and rubbed our cheeks together. "Maybe that's because you trust us?"

I pressed back with a purr. "Yes."

Sunny chose that moment to stand up, holding me princess style. "Well now that we've all come to a consensus about how much we like your newfound confidence, how about we head upstairs and get to the main event? I think we deserve a reward for winning your creators over don't you think?"

"I agree."

With that he carried me into the berthroom and laid me out on the berth, both crawling up to join me.

Oh yes… they definitely deserved a reward…

* * *

R&R! Sorry to trail off there but I didn't want to give anyone a nosebleed! Maybe in the next one!


	24. Chapter 24: Fighting Over The Remote!

Ii was going to wait to update for a few more days, but then himelove22 sent me an awesome pic of Athena and the twins and I'm so happy with it that I decided to update anyways as a thank you for her! If you want to check the pic out you can see it on my DA account, or the cover image for this fic! Quite a bit of hilarity in this chapter! Living with the twins isn't always fun and games which is something that Athena will realize in this one! How will she react to sibling rivalry? Let's find out! TRANSFORMERS BELONGS TO HASBRO! I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND ATHENA! Lemons in this one!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

How long could two mechs fight over so many stupid things? That was what I had to ask myself as I sat on the couch, watching Sides and Sunny arguing over the remote… again… This was just one of many things they'd argued over so far.

First: I'd woken up to the sound of crashing from downstairs, and when I ran down to see what was going on I nearly got bowled over by the two wrestling over the remote.

Second: As if fighting over the remote wasn't enough, then they decided to fight over who's turn it was to go to the market to get our energon for the next quartex. Suffice to say I went out and did it myself to put a stop to the big time wrestling match taking place in the living room.

Third: As soon as I had come back from shopping I'd walked in on them arguing over the remote… Again! I had rolled my optics and went into the kitchen to take care of the groceries.

Fourth: Sunny came in while I was doing that, kissed me, then proceeded to eat the oil cake that was supposed to be Sides'… And in doing so had started another fight about the fact that it wasn't his cake to eat…

Fifth: They fought over the remote… Again!

Sixth: After that was settled for the third time, the two decided to fight over who got to use the shower first! It actually got to the point that they were wrestling each other and punching the other in the helm, and then Sunny was complaining about the dents and scratches… like he wasn't just as responsible for them being there…

And now they were fighting over the remote again, because Sides was watching some stupid show about a human with a big yellow helm named Bobobobobobobo or something, and Sunny was having a fit because there was an art showing on TV that he wanted to watch…

"Sides! Primus fraggit give me that fragging remote so that I can watch the art showing! Your stupid show is recorded so you can watch it anytime you want! This is my one chance to see this!"

I twitched as they started shoving at each other again… uncaring that I was actually sitting between them…

"No way Sunny! Those fragging art showings are boring as pit! I wanna watch Bobobobobobobo! It's my turn to have the remote anyways!"

Sunny roughly jostled me while trying to snatch the remote from Sides again, in turn making me twitch even more profusely…

"Sides give me the remote! You can watch your stupid show later! I've been waiting for this for an entire quartex!"

"No way! Those shows knock me into recharge because they're just that boring! Why can't we watch something fun? Or we could play a game instead?" Sides suggested with a grin.

Sunny snarled. "NO! YOU OWN THE FRAGGING GAMING SYSTEM AND THAT MEANS THAT YOU CAN PLAY IT WHENEVER YOU WANT TO! I LITERALLY CAN ONLY WATCH THIS SHOWING ONCE! NOW GIVE ME THE REMOTE BEFORE I KICK YOUR AFT!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"FRAG NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE OF BOREDOM!"

"SIDES! GIVE IT TO ME NOW!"

One of them knocked against me again, catching me in the wing… and just like that my own temper flared. I whirled around and snatched the remote from Sides, jumping up to stomp over to the window as they yelled at me indignantly. I ignored them and opened the window, rearing my arm back to chuck the remote out of it.

They jumped up from the couch and stared at me with desperation, well Sides was, Sunny just looked wary. "PRINCESS NO!"

I turned to glare at them. "This is the fourth time this morning that you two have fought over the fragging remote! I'm tired of listening to it!"

"Just put the remote down Athe… We promise not to fight over it again." Sunny reasoned with me.

"Yeah right! You two have been going at it over everything today!"

He huffed moodily. "Well if Sides would just let me watch my show I wouldn't be arguing with him!"

"Hey! You ate my oil cake on purpose when you knew it was mine! You did it just to be an aft!"

"I'M AN AFT?! YOU USED MY PAINT FOR YOUR LATEST PRANK! NOW I HAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER TRIP TO THE ART STORE TO REPLACE MY STOCK SINCE YOU USED ALMOST ALL OF IT FOR PAINT BOMBS!"

Sides just shrugged. "Where else was I supposed to get the paint for them?"

"BUY YOUR OWN!" Sunny bellowed angrily.

I narrowed my optics at both of them. "Ok. So you two go from arguing over the remote, to arguing over Sides using your paint in his latest prank?"

He shook his helm as if to dispel negative thoughts, then with a growl he took a step towards me. "Just give me the remote Athena."

Sides shoved him aside. "No give it to me!"

"How about no?" With a quick flick of my wrist I shoved the remote into my subspace and crossed my arms over my chassis as they gaped at me. "You aren't getting it back until you stop fighting."

"But Princess…!" Sides whined.

I scowled at him, wondering for all the world how two full grown mechs could be so immature! There had to be something that I could do to force them to stop fighting over petty things! Well… there was one thing that I could think of that I had done with Cee and Flareup when they were fighting especially bad one day…

Oh Primus… that was the best idea I had all day! And luckily… I had a few sets of high strength energy cuffs in my subspace...

"Ok I'll give the remote back if you two hug for ten astroseconds."

They stared at me. "So if we hug… you'll let us have the remote back?"

"Yes I will."

Sunny scowled. "I'm not going to hug Sides just to get the remote back."

I shrugged. "Ok… If you really want to push it, I guess I can just cut you two off from interface for an entire deca-cycle… or indefinitely until you do this."

Sides gasped. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Then he turned and forcefully pulled Sunny against his front. "HUG ME BRO! HUG ME OR SHE'LL CUT US OFF AND I DON'T THINK I CAN LIVE WITH THAT!" He wailed in Sunny's face.

"Sides cut it out!"

"PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND ME!"

"No!"

Sides forcefully yanked Sunny's arms around his shoulders too. "See Princess? We're hugging!"

I grinned wickedly, reaching in and pulling four sets of energy cuffs from my subspace… "I can see that Sides! Good job! Just keep it up for a few astroseconds…" I crept closer, keeping out of Sunny's line of sight as he struggled to get away from Sides. Once I was close enough I lashed out and slammed the energy cuffs on their ankle joints, causing them both to jolt apart, but I quickly grabbed their wrists and cuffed them together as well.

"PRINCESS!" Sides shouted as the two attempted to yank themselves free from the cuffs, and in doing so they tripped and fell because their legs were locked together.

Sunny ended up flopping down on top of Sides, with his face shoved into the floor. "ATHENA!" He bellowed into the hard slate.

"Yes?"

Sides grunted as Sunny jerked to the side, nearly smooshing him as he rolled so that he could see me. "TAKE THESE THINGS OFF OF US RIGHT NOW!"

"Nope! This was the only thing I could think of to get you two to stop fighting! So until you can convince me that you'll behave you will be stuck in those cuffs."

He glared at me. "Athena…"

"Sunny… If you hadn't been fighting over the remote this wouldn't have happened!"

"ATHENA! I SWEAR I'M GOING TO HAVE YOUR AFT WHEN I FREE MYSELF!"

"Good luck with that! Those cuffs are designed to be strong enough to stop a mech Megatron's size, even when outputting all their strength to break them."

Their optics bugged out of their helms. "PRINCESS PLEASE!" Sides cried out mournfully.

"Nope! If this is the only way you can learn then I have no choice but to leave you like this!"

With that I turned and made my way back into the kitchen to grab a cube of energon. Maybe they would learn the lesson quickly so that I could let them out? Well… I hoped so, but then yelling started up from the other room a few astroseconds after I grabbed a cube out of the fridge.

Well frag… this was going nowhere fast…

When I walked back into the living room, cube in servo, my optics landed on the two rolling around on the floor helm-butting each other since neither could get themselves upright. "Are you really fighting already? At this rate you'll never get out of those cuffs."

Sunny glared at me as Sides tried to pull himself up, only to fall back down on top of him. "Athena you have to take these off of us at some point! We have work the day after tomorrow!"

I shrugged. "True. I guess that means I have today and tomorrow to teach you two a lesson!"

They rolled so that Sides was facing me, features schooled into a pout. "But Princess! How are we supposed to recharge or refuel like this?!"

"Well I can help you refuel, but I can't lift you onto the berth so I guess you'll be recharging on the floor unless you make up."

"NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! PRINCESS IS GOING TO RECHARGE IN OUR BERTH WITHOUT US! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO LOVE YOU?!" Sides wailed at the top of his vocalizer.

"ATHENA! TAKE THESE FRAGGING THINGS OFF OF US RIGHT NOW!"

"Not until you two stop fighting over petty things." I nodded assertively, before turning and walking back into the prep room.

They were going to learn a lesson… Or else!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I was laying on my back glaring at the ceiling, while Sides laid beside me whining periodically every few astroseconds. We'd been cuffed together for a few joors now, with no end in sight. Athena wasn't relenting at all…

"Princess…"

"Sides shut up."

"Princess…!"

"Sides…"

"Princess come entertain us!" He continued on without acknowledging me at all.

Athena peeked out from the prep room. "No Sides! That would go against me punishing you!"

"Who do you think you are? Our carrier?" I grumbled sourly.

"No. I'm pretty sure that I'm just your femmefriend, but that means that I have to deal with you every day! And you two are being especially annoying today! So that's why you've been locked together like that! I'll let you go if you promise not to fight!"

I opened my mouth to agree to those terms when Sides whined. "But Princesssssssssssss it's my turn to use the TV!"

She shrugged. "Suit yourself." Then she ducked back out of sight and the sound of her banging around started up again.

"Sides! We could have gotten out of this if you'd kept your mouth shut!"

"But Sunny... It's my turn to use the TV!"

I banged my helm against the floor. Why? Why did my twin have to be so stupid some days?

Athena suddenly yelped from the other room. "Whoops!"

We both tilted our helms up as she came scurrying out of the prep room… with oil spilled all over her chassis and thighs. I felt my lower half tightening despite how frustrated I was with the situation. Why did she have to be so fragging gorgeous?!

Sides groaned. "Why Princess? Why?"

She stopped just short of the stairs and scowled at us. "I didn't mean to spill this all over myself!" After a moment she looked down at the slick brown liquid coating her front. "Aww frag it!" Then in astroseconds she had tugged all of her armor off right there.

As soon as she did that Sides flipped onto his front and strained against the energy chains in an attempt to crawl to her. "Princess!"

His move forced me to flop onto my front as well. "HEY! STOP DOING THAT YOU IDIOT!"

"Princess! PLEASE LET ME OUT OF THESE CHAINS!"

She put her armor down on the couch and stopped in front of us, servos on her knees as she knelt slightly which gave us a very good look at all the important parts of her frame. "What's wrong Sides? Do you need to refuel?"

"No… I just want you…" He whined pitifully.

"Are you two going to behave?"

"Yes! Yes, I'll behave I promise!"

She stared at us for a klik or so before tsking. "I don't think I believe that Sides…"

"PRINCESS! PLEASE!"

She knelt down and cupped Sides' face. "Oh you poor, poor mech you! Am I being mean to you?"

"Yes!"

She leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Yes!"

In a sudden move she pulled away and let him fall face first to the floor. "Too bad! You two really should have behaved yourselves this morning! Now you're going to stay stuck like that until I feel like you really have learned a lesson!"

With that she turned, grabbed her armor, and disappeared up the stairs.

Sides whined into the floor. "Why…?"

"This is all because you wouldn't just give me the remote Sides!" I snarled at him. "Now we're stuck chained together while Athena is naked! Naked! Do you know what we could be doing right now?"

"HER!" He suddenly started wailing at the top of his vocalizer. "WE COULD BE DOING HER RIGHT NOW! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST GIVE ME THE REMOTE SUNNY?! WHY?! WE WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS RIGHT NOW IF YOU'D JUST STOPPED BEING A GREEDY AFT FOR A FEW JOORS!"

"ME?! YOU WERE THE ONE THAT WAS TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE TV WHEN IT WAS MY TURN! MY TURN SIDES! NOT YOURS! YOU HAD THE TV ALL NIGHT LAST NIGHT AND I JUST WANTED TO WATCH MY ART SHOWING FOR A FEW JOORS! IF YOU HADN'T DONE THAT WE'D BE GETTING FRAGGED RIGHT NOW!"

He just continued carrying on without responding to me.

For almost half a breem, until Athena strode back into the living room naked.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL NAKED PRINCESS?!"

She looked at us innocently. "The buffer isn't working… I was tempted to call somebot to fix it but I don't want them to see me naked… So I guess I'm stuck like this until I can let you two out of those cuffs."

I scowled at her. "Liar! You just want to torment us!"

"No it won't turn on! I put my armor in and it wouldn't start!"

I sighed. "Well we can't fix it until you let us out of these cuffs!"

She plopped down on the couch, pulling her knees up to her chassis, keeping them spread so that we could still see her… bits… "But then you wouldn't learn your lesson! You two really need to stop fighting over stupid things!"

Sides looked up at her. "Ok! We promise not to fight over the remote anymore Princess! Just please let us out of these things! I can't stand looking at you when you're like that, knowing that I can't bestow you with all my affection!" He cried dramatically.

She cocked her helm at us, optics widening adorably. "I need to think on it for a while…" With that she pulled the remote from her subspace and turned the TV on.

Why that little…

She flipped through the channels until she stopped on a documentary about rust serpents. Her optics brightened gleefully, and she stood up to let Sparky and Topaz out of their cages, before plopping down and leaning back against the couch comfortably. "Hey Sunny, you remember that painting of the Rust Serpent at the Art Gallery Opening?"

My optic ridge twitched… Was she taunting me right now?

' _ **The rust serpent, a creature of such mass that scientists have debated its' mobility for centuries. Did it glide through the currents with the aid of air for ballast? Or did it slither along the bottom of the rust seas like it's land based counterparts?'**_

Sides started whining obnoxiously. "Nooooooooooooo! Princess not some stupid documentary!"

"Shush!"

He started banging his helm into the floor, keeping it up as the kliks dragged on and the narrator continue listing the qualities of a long extinct creature.

' _ **Another speculation is how it killed its' prey, if it hunted at all. Did it use its mass to crush its' victim? Or did it inject paralysis inducing or lethal venom, or did it filter the rust around it for carrion on the seabed like an aquatic undertaker?'**_

"TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!" Sides banged his helm into the floor even harder.

Like that would stop him from hearing… Idiot…

I growled as the narrator droned on more. "You know that there are a scrap ton of shows that are more entertaining than this right?"

"Like Bobobobobobobo!"

I somehow maneuvered my arms so that I could smack Sides in the helm. "Except that!"

"Owie!" He whined pitifully. "Princess Sunny is still being mean to me!"

Before she could utter a single word a shrill screech rang out from somewhere above us.

I barely had a chance to look up in time to see a light green and blue blur shooting down towards me. Topaz landed on my sodpiece, shrieking and scratching it with her sharp little claws. "HEY! ATHENA GET THAT THING OFF OF ME!"

She jumped up and yanked the little stream glider off of me, and then she locked her back in her cage. "No! Bad femme! Bad!"

Topaz just clicked furiously.

"Naughty femme!" Athena chastised her, before she turned and plopped back down on the couch, proceeding to start watching her documentary again.

Leaving Sides and I locked together, unable to escape from the annoying narration, or the loud hissing of the bright bronze colored rust serpents on the screen…

* * *

And so for the next joor or so Sides and I were subjected to listening to the narrator discuss how they hunted, mated, gave birth, how long they lived, how their plating fell off as new ones expanded and grew beneath the old ones, etc…

By the time it was over I was banging my helm into the floor too…

Athena just shut the TV off and slipped the remote back into her subspace, before standing and stretching languidly, giving us both another in depth view of her valve… "Well I need to go clean the berthroom since Sides made a mess of it this morning! Will you two be ok down here without me?"

We both glared at her. "NO!"

She smirked mischievously. "Too bad! I'll be back as soon as I'm done!" With that she turned and disappeared upstairs again.

"That femme… she's devious!" Sides muttered.

It seemed like he was actually really aroused by her behavior… even if it was frustrating. I had to say that I liked it more than I wanted to admit.

"She's hot when she's being devious."

"She is… But I don't like being chained together like this."

Sides tugged at the wrist cuffs with a grunt. "What do we do about it? She won't let us out of these things!"

I scowled at the ceiling. "She did this because we were fighting… So we need to prove to her that we won't fight if she lets us out."

"But we've been trying! She just keeps putting it off!"

"Because she doesn't really believe that we won't start up again if she does." Probably because there was no way that we wouldn't end up bickering over something else before the night's end…

"Why don't we just lay here quietly…" He continued, shifting his legs to get more comfortable, well as much as he could when our legs were pressed against each other's. "And not fight or argue until she comes back?"

"Fine… but just so you know… I'm still slagged off at you for making me miss my show!"

"Well I wanted to watch my show and you wouldn't let me! And you ate my cake! That wasn't cool Sunny!"

"You wasted all my paint! That stuff is expensive Sides!"

"What's the big deal? So I'll buy you some more!"

"The point is that I ask you over and over again, not to go into my studio and mess with my stuff! And you keep doing it anyways!"

"But I always replace whatever I take! As long as I do that what's there to get mad over?"

"How about the fact that sometimes when I go in there to work on something the paint I had before I left is gone? Do you have any idea how inconvenient that is?! When I get inspired I need to get whatever is in my helm down on a canvas as quick as possible, otherwise it's just gone! That's happened to me so many times because you've taken my paint without letting me know in advance!"

"I'm sorry ok? I'm really sorry!"

"if you are then why do you keep doing it Sides?"

"Because I don't think things through most of the time! I just… an idea gets in my helm and I just go! The temptation just takes off and I'm doing it before I know what happened!"

I sighed. "Sides…"

He slumped dejectedly. "I'm really sorry Sunny. Really I am… I just… do things without thinking all the time…"

"I know Sides… You're my twin… I know you better than anybot else."

He turned his helm towards me, allowing me to see the way he was frowning. "Well… I guess we just annoy each other anyway huh?"

"Definitely…"

"Aww you two are finally making up!"

Our helms shot up in unison, optics landing on Athena standing in the entryway grinning.

"Yes we are making up! Now please let us out of these things Princess!"

She slowly approached us, getting down on all fours to climb up on top of me, with one leg draped over my hip, and the other over Sides' opposite hip. Leaning down, she ended up pressing her bare frame against mine. "You know something Sunny…?"

"What?"

She took my cheeks in her servos and turned my helm towards the TV. "Do you see anything off with the TV?"

I stared at it closely, or more specifically the little light in middle of the bottom section of it. "The recording light is on…?" How had I forgot that we had DVR?! I could have just recorded the art showing and let Sides watch his cartoon!

"Mm hmm…" She gently eased my helm back so that I was staring up at her again. "You see… I knew how much you were looking forward to that art showing, so I set up a recording for it a few days ago…"

My optics widened as my spark pulsed in excitement. "Really?"

"Yes really… So you and Sides were fighting over the remote when you both could have easily just taken turns and been able to watch your programs at your leisure."

"Why didn't you tell us that earlier?" Sides asked in a somewhat accusing tone.

She rolled her optics. "I tried! But every time I did you two started yelling at each other and couldn't hear me!"

"Oh…"

"Mm hmm… When you two get like that nothing penetrates those thick helms of yours!"

"Hey… that's mean Ati!"

She giggled. "I know!"

I could have hit myself… "So… we ended up arguing, which led to us ending up like this for arguing, all because we were fighting over something that didn't really matter in the end?"

"Yes. Yes, you did."

"We're idiots…"

"No… you two are just… mechs…?"

"That's offensive Athe."

Those dainty shoulders lifted up once in a minute shrug, then she reached out and hovered her servos over the energy cuffs… "Should I let you out of these? I did just fill the tub with warm solvent… and I finished cleaning the berthroom…"

Sides nodded rapidly. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Small servos slid over the energy releases, freeing us from our restraints as the frame they were attached to sat up and backed away. "Hey guess what?"

I rubbed my wrists for a moment, before typing in the same release code on the ankle cuffs too. "What?"

She smiled mischievously. "Last one into the tub gets to clean the housing unit for a deca-cycle!" With that she turned and took off up the stairs with a laugh.

Sides jumped up and ran after her. "NOT IT!"

I sighed… "Idiots…"

I trudged up the stairs after them, the sound of splashing and giggling echoing down the dimly lit hallway. When I made it to the wash racks Athena was already in the tub, and Sides was hurriedly stripping down so that he could join her.

"Calm down Sides! Primus you act like you don't get it often enough!"

My twin finished stripping and practically dove into the tub which caused solvent to splash over the edge. He surfaced and slid in on the side closest to the wall, tossing an arm over Athena's shoulder as he waggled his optic ridges at her pervertedly. "I can have it all day every day and I'd never have enough of you Athena."

"I noticed."

Quickly stripping myself down, I slid in on her left side sliding a servo down to squeeze her thigh. "He's a raging perv Athe, meaning he never stops craving interface."

"Well whenever he wants it you normally want it too, so what does that say about you?" She challenged me.

I shrugged. "I like interface as much as the next mech."

She laid her helm on my chassis and sighed contentedly, snuggling further into the tight embrace I had her trapped in. Her small frame always fit so perfectly into the curves and contours of my own… Soft and supple, against my war hardened frame…

Sides scooted closer and leaned down to start placing soft kisses against the back of her neck cables, eliciting a soft sigh from her. One of his servos slid down her front, slipping passed the surface of the solvent as he sucked at a delicate bundle of wires near her shoulder.

She suddenly arched with a gasp, pressing herself against me, allowing me to feel the back of Sides' servo bumping into my outer thigh. Her glossa flicked passed her lips, wetting them and then her denta bit down on the plump metal to stifle a whimper.

"Oh no… that just won't do Princess…" Sides whispered against her audio, and the pace of his servo kicked up to a much faster pace.

Our femme threw her helm back and thrusted her hips into the probing digit with a rasping cry.

"That's much better…"

She continued whimpering and bucking, subconsciously pressing herself forward until she was straddling my leg, spreading wide as Sides delved deeper into her valve. I watched her keen in ecstasy, plump lips spread wide with each cry of pleasure. I dove down and slammed my lips onto hers with a growl, licking at her cavern, nipping at her lips until they were even more swollen.

I slid my right servo down and slid a digit up into her tight heat, sliding it along her tight inner walls, joining Sides in pleasuring her until her valve tightened and she cried out into my mouth as an intense overload surged through her frame. She shuddered violently, emitting a soft keening sound as we continued pumping into her to draw it out for as long as possible.

Afterwards she slumped against me while trying to calm herself down.

I leaned my cheek against the top of her helm, letting loose a pleased rumble.

 **(Sunny? Do you think Princess would sparkmerge with us?)** Sides asked suddenly, and with nervous trepidation.

My optics shot up to lock on his face… **(What?)**

 **(I kind of wanted to spark with her… I mean we've done it with other femmes before so I figured… maybe we could with her too?)**

I averted my gaze down to the purple and gold helm pressed against my chassis… Would Athena be ok with sparkmerging with us? I honestly had no idea… I wasn't even sure if her spark was pure or not… and while ours wasn't, I kind of wanted to be her first…

No other mech was allowed to take her in any way… Only we were!

I wanted to do this with her…

 **(Let's take her into the berthroom and ask her.)**

 **(Ok.)**

With that I cradled her to my chassis and stood to make my way into our berthroom. I wasn't nervous about what was going to happen, so much as I was anxious that she'd say no. Sharing sparks was considered very intimate contact, and while some didn't care about keeping their sparks pure until their bonding night, others did. Sides and I casually merged with other femmes sometimes for pleasure, but I wasn't sure which way Athena viewed that.

I gently laid her down in the center of the berth, but instead of immediately joining her Sides and I stood staring at her from the bottom.

She blinked at us in confusion, door wings twitching nervously. "Um, Sides? Sunny? What are you doing?"

Sides nudged me with his elbow when I didn't say anything. "Athena… Sides and I were wondering if… if you'd want to… sparkmerge with us?" I asked hesitantly.

Her cheeks ignited in a fierce blush, optics widening to the size of saucers.

I took that as a bad sign... "You don't have to Athena… Sides and I just wanted to share that connection with you. If you want to that is. If not, we can wait until you're ready."

She sat up with a servo splayed over her chest plates almost protectively. "I… It's just… I've never…"

Realization dawned on me… I was right about her never having sparked before! The knowledge that we'd be the first to leave an imprint on her spark pleased me immensely. "That's ok Athena. If you don't want to we can wait."

"It's not that." She bit her lip and averted her optics to the wall. "I just don't know what it's like… I'm kind of… scared…"

I took in the way she was twiddling her digits, the nervous way her optics were drifting around, and how she was chewing on her bottom lip. She looked so nervous and innocent that my spark warmed despite the reason she was acting that way.

"There's nothing to be afraid of Princess. Sparkmerging doesn't hurt at all. If anything it feels really good because it both intensifies the sensations of interface, and… well… sharing sparks feels amazing on its own."

She didn't look convinced…

"Athena you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I know I keep saying that but I mean it. We can take that step whenever you get over whatever you're insecure about."

Her optics drifted up to our faces. "I… but… I don't have any countermeasures in place…"

Oh… So she was worried about getting sparked… We didn't have countermeasures either, but we had to sparkmerge and interface with a femme at the exact same time to create a sparkling. So even if we sparked at the same time, so long as we didn't do that, and frag her together all at the same time, she wouldn't get sparked. Apparently she wasn't aware of that fact.

"We can't spark you even if we merge at the same time. With split spark twins, both have to sparkmerge and interface at the exact same time to spark a carrier. So even if we sparkmerge at the same time we're safe as long as we don't all interface at the same time."

"Oh…"

"Yeah… So if you want to it's safe."

After another moment's hesitation she nodded. "Ok."

Without wasting any time, we both climbed up onto either side of her. Sides splayed a servo over her chassis and gently pushed her back with a soft murmur. "Don't be nervous Princess…"

She laid back with her door wings spread out across the berth, optics wide, and blushing all the way down to the top of her chassis. "Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for Athe. It's ok to be nervous." I wasted no time in gently pawing at her chest plates as Sides and I exchanged a look, before sliding ours back.

Her frame became illuminated by the soft blue glow of our sparks, multiple different blue hues reflecting off of her bright silver protoform. She gasped softly, reaching out as if to touch them, only to stop short of doing so.

"It's ok." I murmured, as I dropped my spark casing, taking her servo in mine to bring it the rest of the way in so that she could actually touch my essence.

My frame tensed and I shuddered while she explored my spark, gently feeling my energy with those dainty servos. I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers, groaning softly as my energy spiked and pulsated, filling my frame with a tidal wave of warmth. It was so much more intense than any other time I'd let a femme touch my spark… If I didn't stop, I was afraid she'd make me overload before we'd even merged…

For that reason, I pulled away and grabbed her wrists to make her stop. "Open your chest plates."

Her blush intensified as she slid her chest plates back and exposed a bright spark that matched the color of her optics. It was almost blinding in its' brilliance, glowing almost white at the center.

It was magnificent. I didn't want to waste any more time in merging.

Sides didn't either.

"Are you ready to merge Athena?" I asked quietly.

She nodded. "Yes…"

Without further delay we moved to hover over her as one, with me settled between her legs, while Sides loomed over her from the side. Her spark pulsated as ours came closer, wisps of energy crackling and arcing up to meld with the energy drifting off of ours.

We finally surged forward and pressed our sparks against hers, arcs of electricity lighting off more intensely, causing her helm to snap back and a startled cry fell from her mouth.

This was beyond words… Her spark was so smooth, without any imperfections caused by previous merges… It was like… the waves of a calm sea gently washing over me…

 **(She's amazing…)** Sides whispered in awe.

Yes, she was… beyond perfect.

I spread her legs and allowed my spike to sink into her tight heat. This combined with the merge nearly made me want to lose in on the spot… and Athena instantly started thrashing in response. So unused to the merge that all of it was overwhelming to her.

For once I didn't want to be rough, so instead I started gently thrusting into her.

She keened loudly, shuddering as I slowly made love to both her frame and spark. Her legs wrapped around my waist, servos coming up to hold Sides and I as close as possible while she continued crying out due to the sensation overload.

I groaned, feeling not only Sides at the edge of my awareness, but another presence melding with mine, filling me with another sense of ecstasy that was not my own. She leaned up, keening as she craned her neck to try kissing me but couldn't quite reach, so I leaned down and captured her lips with my own, thrusting faster as I pressed my chassis down on hers harder.

A louder, more insistent cry escaped her as her frame started tightening beneath me. I sped up, sending her crashing over the edge of overload with a few more firm thrusts. She cried out against me, spark pulsating and sending a torrent of ecstatic sensations surging into me, in turn causing me to tense and cry out as my own overload tore through my spark and frame with the force of a freight train.

My spike erupted like a geyser, sending all the transfluid in my tanks streaming into her fluctuating channel, which tightened and pulled me in deeper to ensure that it ripped every drop I had to give. Spark pulsating wildly as waves of pure energy ripped through me from helm to ped…

Afterwards I released her from the merge, pulling myself off of her to roll to the side clumsily so that Sides could move on top of her without releasing her from their merge. He cupped her cheeks and slid into her in one movement, murmuring softly, "You're so beautiful Princess."

I propped myself up so that I could watch my twin slowly make love to our femme, both keening in ecstasy because of the merge and physical pleasure.

Something tugged at the edge of my awareness… But I couldn't quite place what it was off the top of my helm…

What I did know was that something in me stirred whenever I looked at Athena… Especially watching her like this, merging on every level with both of us. Feeling Sides' own gratification and pleasure emanating through the bond… Neither of us had ever felt so complete during a merge before… So overwhelmed on every level…

It was so consuming that the two only lasted a few kliks before crying out again as their overloads sent showers of sparks raining down over the creaking berth below… Then Sides rolled to avoid collapsing on top of her, ending up in a heap on her right side while she stared at the ceiling with hazy and half lidded optics…

I scooted closer since I'd had a few kliks to recover and was able to move, prompting both to look at me lazily when I slid an arm under her helm. She turned so that she was halfway curled up against my chassis, but somehow still had part of her back touching the berth.

"How was that?"

"Mmm… I loved it…"

Sides finally recovered enough to prop himself up on his elbow so that he could stare down at her with a lazy smile. "Your spark is something else Princess. I've never had a merge quite like that."

"I can't really compare yours to anything else since I've never merged before… but they felt very nice…"

I leaned down to kiss her on the fore-helm gently. "You're never going to be able to compare our sparks to any other mechs…"

"Because we're not going to let you leave us Princess."

She giggled quietly. "When you put it that way it makes it sound like you want to keep me around forever."

"We do." Sides answered without hesitation.

And an inkling that he knew something I didn't suddenly made itself known…

I stared at him, but he seemed content to ignore me in favor of cuddling her.

What was it that he knew… that I didn't…?

* * *

R&R!


	25. Chapter 25: Going Berserk & Realizations

So I did change the title for this story from All the Colors on the Canvas, to The Secrets She Keeps, since it fits the overall plot better! Just wanted to throw it out there! Also for some reason reviews weren't showing up for the last chapter, I hope that gets fixed so I can see the ones left for this one! Some big things happening in this chapter! I won't spoil it for you by giving you any details. The only thing I will say is that there is descriptive and brutal violence in this chapter! You have all been warned! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

"Where the frag is she?" I muttered to myself as I paced through the living room.

Athena had left to go to the market two joors ago, and while the list she had was large, it shouldn't have taken her this long to make it back. If anything she should have been back a groon ago at the latest! At this rate I was going to have to go out looking for her!

There was just no way it should have taken her this long to get back! I wasn't doing a very good job keeping my emotions from seeping through the twin bond either.

 **(Sunny? What's got you so worked up bro?)**

 **(Athena's late coming back from the market. I should have gone with her!)** Instead I'd wanted some time alone to work on a new piece…

 **(She's probably fine bro. You know how busy the market can get sometimes! She probably just got held up in the lines.)**

 **(She would have commed me to let me know she'd be late.)**

 **(Not necessarily. Maybe she didn't think of it?)**

 **(I think I'm going to go look for her anyways. I need to make sure she's okay.)**

 **(Alright. Let me know when you find her.)**

 **(I will.)**

With that I made my way out onto the street and transformed, before making the short drive to the market district. Upon making it there it was clear that Sides was right and it was very crowded. Bots were milling about in large groups near the stands, and quite a few others were making their way up and down the streets.

I transformed and quickly pushed my way through the crowd with the intent to visit the stands and stores that I knew Athena was going to visit today. I was no tracker, and the best place that I could think to start at were the places I knew she would have gone to.

Hopefully somebot would remember having seen her and could point me in the right direction.

First stop: The pet store.

When I made my way inside there weren't many bots milling around, and the counter was being overseen by a black, lanky looking young Polyhexian mech with blue optics. He looked up when I approached. "Can I help you with something?"

"Did you happen to see a purple and gold Praxian femme come in here yet today?"

He nodded. "Yeah she was in here about half a joor ago buying supplies for stream gliders I believe."

I turned away without another word since I knew Athena wouldn't have told anybot else where she was going next. From what she had told me before leaving, she was going to the pet store, energon stall, detailing store, and then to the art store. It looked like I would have to systematically check all those places.

With that thought in helm, I made my way back onto the street and made a beeline for the energon stall that Athena liked to get her weekly reserves from due to all the different flavors they had. It wasn't a very busy place normally, and today was no different evidently from the lack of bots standing around the stall.

It made it easy to just walk right up to the older mech running the stand. "Excuse me!"

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Did you happen to see a purple and gold Praxian femme stop by today?"

"Ah yes! You're talking about Athena yes?"

"Yeah I am."

"She stopped by not too long ago… maybe around half a joor or so. We talked a bit while she perused what I had in stock, and then she bought her reserves and left."

"Did she say where she was going?"

"The detailing store."

Figures… Frag it all to the pit! I was just going to assume that I'd get the same answer there and save time by just skipping to the art store instead of wasting time stopping at the detailing store.

I turned and sprinted through the crowd, pushing passed anybot that got in my way. For some reason I just had a really bad feeling that something was wrong that I couldn't quite place. I had to find her! I had to know that she was safe!

The door of the art store actually slammed against the wall as I rushed inside, startling Lithium who was busy stocking shelves.

"Sunstreaker? What are you doing here?"

"Have you seen Athena yet today?"

She stood up and approached me. "Yes I have. She stopped in for a while, bought some paint and brushes, then she left. That was about… a groon and a half ago?"

"Did she say that she was going anywhere else after she left here?"

She pursed her lips in thought. "Why yes as a matter of fact she did. I believe she was planning to go refuel at the café that she frequents often. Why? Is something wrong?"

I turned and ran out without answering her.

Why didn't she comm me to let me know that she was going to the café? If I got there and she was fine after making me worry for the last few joors… I was going to chain her to the berth and never let her leave the housing unit again!

As soon as I hit the road I transformed and took off towards the café we liked to frequent. I had to calm myself down! She'd be there safe and sound, and I would have to admit that I'd blown everything out of proportion… Everything would be fine…

If I really did believe that why didn't I ease off the gas until I screeched to a stop in front of the café, where I transformed before racing inside? As with everywhere else it wasn't busy inside the café. Only a few waitresses and patrons were milling about, along with Zenarith who was standing behind the counter running the register.

I walked passed her to look into all of the booths, and like with everywhere else I'd gone today Athena was nowhere in this building from what I could tell. Where the frag could she be?!

"Ah Sunstreaker! It's nice to see you!"

I turned to look at Zenarith who had approached me from behind. "Have you seen Athena today?"

She nodded. "Yes as a matter of fact I have. She just left about a breem ago."

I sighed. "Did she say that she was going anywhere else after?"

"She said that she was going home."

"Ok thanks." With that I turned and exited the café. Ok so she should be fine… she was just running late, and when I got back she'd be in the prep room putting things away. "Yeah… she's fine."

At least I was hoping so, but when I passed by a dark alleyway I noticed something laying discarded on the ground. I slowed to a stop and turned towards it, optics widening when I realized that it was the bright red tote bag that Sides had given her to carry her things in, and that happened to include groceries.

Upon closer inspection it appeared that the contents were spilled all over the ground… Meaning something had happened and I wasn't crazy for worrying about her!

I opened my mouth to call out for her when the sound of something crashing to the ground echoed from somewhere further down the alley. But it was the feminine yelp of pain that had me rushing towards the sound as something that I hadn't felt in a long time stirred… My vision bled red, my systems started overheating as something akin to feral rage encompassed my spark. My denta sharpened, and my plating bristled as my hold on sanity started slipping.

I stumbled onto something that made the last bit of restraint I had snap like a rubber band. Because the sight of the majority of my femmefriend's armor laying haphazardly discarded on the dirty ground, while a tall, lanky, black Polyhexian mech had her pinned against the wall with one servo covering her mouth, and the other attempting to yank off the last barrier between her valve and his exposed spike, enraged me like very little could.

Sides wasn't here to help me fight it this time.

Nobot was here to stop the events that were about to occur.

And I didn't care enough to stop myself from succumbing to the energon lust that made me want to rip everything apart. In this case the mech who was trying to rape Athena.

I opened my mouth and released an enraged roar, charging at the mech at the same moment that he looked up at me in surprise and fear. He let go of her and turned to flee, but I bowled him over from behind, pinning him face down on the ground.

He was going to die…

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I don't know what happened… One moment I was minding my own business, and the next some mech snatched me off the street, forcing me to drop my bag of groceries as I attempted to fight him off… but my old fears came back… and I couldn't do a thing to stop him. I just froze, and before I realized what had happened he was ripping my armor off, even as more memories of the same thing occurring flashed through my processor, making me feel weak and useless…

Filling me with old fear and self-loathing.

But then Sunny had shown up out of nowhere and tackled my attacker. Now I sat huddled against the wall, shaking and watching what was happening in front of me.

I'd never seen him like this before…

Optics glowing white, stream drifting up in thick plumes from his vents…

He jabbed a knee into the other mech's back strut while he was pinned face first on the ground, then he latched onto his upper arms and yanked back with enough strength that his bicep armor bulged out from the strain.

But he seemed not to care as he ripped the mech's arms clean out of their shoulder sockets, sending energon spewing up onto his face and chassis while he growled like a rabid cyber-animal. Some spilled onto the ground as well, quickly forming a large puddle around the mech as his thrashing caused more to flow through his systems more quickly, while he screamed so loud that his vocalizer exploded in a shower of sparks.

Sunny seemed not to notice or care… Instead he got up and dropped the mech's arms on the ground before walking down towards his legs… And he reared back and slammed his peds onto the area where the hydraulic system was built into the thigh, with enough force to completely decapitate the legs…

I whimpered, even if it was not out of fear of him. I couldn't explain why, but I just wasn't afraid that he would hurt me. But seeing this reminded me of so many things that I never wanted to think about. Things that I wanted to forget forever, but that were thrust in my face today.

But I couldn't move to make him stop… I could only sit there and watch as he flipped the half dead mech onto his back, and ripped at his chest plates and abdominal armor until he literally shredded it… exposing the internal cables and systems, more energon spurting up from the wounds to join the huge puddle already on the ground. Some had even reached me and was coating my aft and legs…

He reached inside of the mech's internals and yanked the squirming internal cabling out, gripping it in both servos and tearing at it until the mech's optics scrunched up in even more agony. He ripped more out, bringing it up and wrapping it around the other mech's neck so that he could lasso him and pull on his own cabling to suffocate him with it.

No remorse… His optics continued to blaze a crazed white.

He wasn't stopping.

He wasn't slowing down.

He just kept going.

Turning to use one servo to beat the mech's helm in with his own severed limb, shattering his optics, and denting it so far in with one blow that I was sure he died instantly at that moment, because his entire frame went completely still. And then within astroseconds it started turning gray…

But Sunny didn't stop. He turned to tearing the frame apart piece by piece…

Until there was nothing left but scraps and energon splattered all over the ground. And still he persisted in continuing to mutilate what was left…

I stood up to approach him on shaky legs. "Sunny stop."

He looked up at me with another servo poised to strike the puddle of remains.

I reached out and grabbed hold of it, gently lowering it. "He's dead. It's ok."

He turned and bared his denta at the dead mech, growling low in his chassis.

I stepped over him and lowered myself down onto his lap, curling up and pressing my face against the energon splattered plating there. "Please stop."

His arms locked around me as his venting picked up in speed, along with the whine of his racing systems. After a moment his hold tightened. "Athena?"

I pulled away to look up at his now clear blue optics. "Are you okay?"

He looked around dazedly for a moment, before his optics landed on the deceased frame behind me. "I went berserk."

"Yes."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm okay."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No. You got here before…"

His grip on me tightened. "Good. We need to go before somebot comes to see what the commotion was about."

"Ok." With that we got up, I put my armor back on while he quickly took care of the energon stains all over himself, then together we recovered my bag and hurriedly left the scene of the incident.

During the trek back to the housing unit I clung to his side and he kept an arm wrapped around my shoulder. I was thankful for it because I was still really shaken up over what had happened… or almost happened. It was something that I had never wanted to experience again… and being so close to it again… terrified me…

That was why I had myself pressed so tightly to his plating that I was sure we'd both end up chipped at the point of connection. I kept myself there even as we made it onto the street where the housing unit was, where the first thing I saw was Sides racing down the street towards us in a panic.

He nearly toppled us over. "SUNNY! PRINCESS!"

As soon as he did that I latched onto him and pulled him closer so that I could bury my face into his middle.

"What happened? Are you okay? Is Princess okay? I felt you go berserk over the bond!"

"Let's go inside and I'll explain there."

Sides just slid around on my other side and pressed a servo to the small of my back as the two led me into the housing unit without another word. They locked the door and pushed me through the entryway towards the living room.

"Are you really okay Athena?" Sunny asked as we stepped into the living room.

I looked down and nodded, servos tightening their hold on the strap of my tote bag. "I'm… going to go put this stuff away." With that I shrugged their servos off and turned to go into the prep room.

They didn't follow me, which I was actually thankful for. Because I didn't want them to see the way coolant pooled in my optics, or how it spilled down my cheeks as I tried distracting myself by sorting the energon cubes to put in their proper places. It was monotonous, yet it did nothing to actually serve the purpose for doing it.

I still cried regardless.

The memories of the past still overwhelmed me.

And I ended up slumping against the counter because of it.

Feeling weak once more.

Always the victim at somebot else's mercy.

That's all I would ever be…

I'd just keep causing the twins trouble if I stayed with them. As it was Sunny could be prosecuted for murdering that mech… even if he just did it to protect me…

It was all my fault…

I bowed my helm, digging the sharp tips of my digits into the countertop until it gave way beneath, leaving smooth gouges in the surface. So deep in my thoughts was I, that I jolted when somebot pressed themselves against my back and red arms slid around my front to keep me locked in place.

"Sunny told me what happened. Are you okay Princess?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, but even doing so didn't make my next words sound any less meek. "Yes I'm fine."

He turned me around until I was facing him. His expression was one of concern, optics far more serious than they normally were, mouth set in a firm line. "I don't think you are."

"Sides I'm fine. Sunny got there before he made it that far." Thank Primus for that…

He just stared at me without saying anything.

I went to turn away. "I need to get everything put away."

"I'll do the rest."

"No that's ok. I can do it."

He tugged me over to the entryway. "I can do it. You can take your pretty little aft upstairs and get in the tub so that you can relax and clean yourself up." And with that he gently shoved me out into the hallway.

Leaving me standing there doing nothing…

Until Sunny rounded the corner separating the living room from the hallway and prep room. "Didn't Sides just tell you to go take a bath and relax?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you standing there staring at the wall?"

I shrugged.

He gently took my upper arm and tugged me up the stairs and into the wash racks. Once inside he shut the door and moved over to fill the tub with hot solvent, working silently while I stood near the counter watching.

After a moment he turned and started taking his armor off. "Take your armor off and we'll put it in the buffing machine."

I slowly did as I was told, and he gathered all the pieces up before shoving them into the receptacle. Once it was loaded up he hit the on cycle, and then he turned and coerced me into the warm bath. I hadn't really paid any attention until now, but there was dried, caked energon staining my protoform…

Just like… all those times…

Only this time the energon wasn't mine… But that didn't make it itch any less now that I remembered its' presence. I couldn't resist the urge to take a rag and started scrubbing at each spot meticulously, almost in a crazed manner.

I scrubbed…

And scrubbed…

And scrubbed some more…

Until the nanites making up my protoform turned from a pristine white, to a dark splotchy gray from the pressure I was exerting. But even then I continued rubbing at myself, long after the stains had disappeared.

"Athena."

A whimper escaped me as more images of energon spilled all over me invaded my processor.

"Athena stop."

Coating my chassis…

"Athena!"

Abdominal armor…

"Dammit femme!"

More on my thighs… Leaking down my legs from the source…

"Are you listening to me?!"

Splattered across my back, leaking down from the soft spot between my wings that was torn open…

Servos suddenly clamped down on my wrists, ripping a startled scream from my vocalizer as my helm whipped back with such force that I clipped it against the wall.

"Whoa easy Athe!"

I vented harshly, trying to calm myself down so that I could focus on the here and now. So that I could focus on Sunny staring down at me with my servos caught in his grasp. My mouth opened and closed a few times as I struggled to say something… "Sorry."

He pulled me against his chassis. "Don't be. I just didn't want you to hurt yourself any more than you already have. You were scrubbing so hard that you bruised your protoform."

"Oh."

"Yeah." The padded contours of his servos trailed up and down the middle of my back. "You're okay. You don't have to be afraid anymore. We're at home and you're safe."

I slowly wrapped my arms around his back, even though it didn't feel as right as it normally did. How could it when what happened today had forced me to remember every dirty little detail of everything that I had been forced to endure at the servos of others?

It made me feel dirty and disgusting… Like the fact that I had at least come into this relationship while pure of spark didn't matter, because my frame was too soiled for it to really make a difference. Pit, if it had been possible to take advantage of me in that way without killing me, it would have been done.

If leaving me pure there had no real purpose… it would not have remained so.

I would have had nothing real to offer these two… and even then, the fact that I had given them that didn't really seem as important anymore.

Because I was still too soiled to be worth anything…

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Sides came downstairs after disappearing a while ago to take Athena some spiced energon. "She fell into recharge… the light sedatives I put in her energon should hopefully keep her from having nightmares." He plopped down beside me on the couch, for once leaving the remote and gaming equipment untouched.

I just stared at him, because the inkling I had the other day made complete sense now… and he knew the whole time. I wasn't mad per se, but I did wish that he'd told me earlier. "You knew that she was our sparkmate and you didn't tell me."

He sighed quietly. "I wanted you to figure it out on your own. If I just told you it might have made you want to fight it… Primus knows that you don't like feeling like you have no choice in certain situations."

"But I wouldn't have cared this time Sides! Who would willingly turn down finding their perfect mate? Primus! Do you think I'm that stupid?!"

"I don't think you're stupid… just stubborn. You don't like having things pointed out to you. Instead you like working things out for yourself."

"Sides… I found out when I went berserk over some mech trying to rape her! I'd rather have found out some other way, you know, when I wasn't traumatizing her by ripping some mech apart in front of her!"

He winced. "I know… But at least she doesn't seem scared of you."

"Yet. What if she-!"

His helm whipped around, optics narrowed. "She's not going to be afraid of you! If she was scared we'd know it!"

I slumped forward, elbow joints resting on my knees, and my face cupped in my servos. "I don't want to scare her off." I admitted quietly.

"You won't."

"I don't want to be the one to screw everything up again."

"You haven't screwed anything up yet! Just give everything time to settle and you'll see that everything is ok."

Leaning back, I let my helm fall back against the couch. "What do we do now? This was… never really supposed to happen Sides. I mean what are the odds? It's uncommon for a normal bot to find their true sparkmate, but for split sparks it's unheard of."

"But it did happen." He pointed out.

"Yeah… As crazy as it is… we're lucky to have found her."

He nodded as his mouth spread in a wide grin. "We're going to have a sparkmate…"

Our own sparkmate… A kind of love that could be matched by nothing else… To find somebot that was literally fated to meet and be with you from the time their spark first came into the world… I never dreamed that it would happen to us.

"What now Sides? What are we supposed to do?"

"Propose to her? I've checked into Praxian courting rituals, and I know exactly what we need to do! There's a jewelry store that has a really nice Dephronite! Ya know, like a blue diamond?"

I just stared at him. "You really were way ahead of me weren't you?"

"Absolutely. I've known for a while. If we want to do things by her rituals we need to propose to her by giving her a shiny object, then if she accepts we take that object back and use it to make something for her. I was thinking a crown engraved with gems, and adorned with the Dephronite in the middle."

That sounded nice… "Maybe something that compliments her chevron? It could curve underneath and then come up through the center?"

"Yeah. You can do some sketches for designs!"

"I will. What do you think of having parlimons engraved around the Dephronite?"

"That's perfect! We can go out and… wait… when do you think we should ask her?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Cuz you're supposed to be smarter than me."

Well I couldn't argue with that… I was smarter. "Well the sooner we ask her, the sooner we can stop skirting around the subject and bond."

"So soon then?"

"On our next day off we'll go get the Dephronite."

"We got enough in savings?"

"Yeah. If we have to take a little extra out, I'll actually see about doing some commissions to make some extra credits."

"Sounds like a plan."

My spark pulsed…

That sounded like a good plan…

* * *

R&R! So don't hate me for this because it's really not that bad in comparison to what's going to happen later! This story will get dark, very dark. Just a fair warning to anyone that doesn't like disturbing content.


	26. Chapter 26: Indecisiveness & A Mission

Yay! 100 reviews! XD From here on out darker themes and content are going to be more frequent, and sometimes even more descriptive. I just wanted to make you all aware of the fact that the backstories of these three are anything but pleasant. Anyways… Transformers is owned by Hasbro! I only own Athena and the plot, and any other OC's that I create.

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I lay on my back staring at the ceiling over the berth, after coming to a few groons ago due to a nightmare. Now I was just… pondering everything… and I didn't know what to do after realizing some things… Such as the fact that I felt dirty again for the first time in a very long time…

I'd tried so hard to lock the memories of the past away…

I'd tried not to see myself that way anymore…

Not that it had ever truly freed me from everything that had ever hurt me in life. But I'd been able to try existing in a somewhat normal manner thanks to my adoptive family unit teaching me that not everybot was out there to hurt me. That there were good bots out there that wouldn't betray me. Those lessons had made it possible to lock the pain away and focus on some of the good things in life.

Like the warmth of Opi's hugs, or the way my armor shined when Cee polished me… and I could actually feel her touching me without being afraid of it. How Danni would always be there watching out for me, both her and Opi encouraging me all the time.

Not putting me down, or telling me that I wasn't good enough…

They never blamed me for my own existence like it was a curse or plague.

They acted like it was ok… like it was a good thing.

I was actually able to make something of myself by training with them, or Uncle Ratchet. I was able to be proud of something I did for the first time in my life… and I'd learned so much about myself. Such as the fact that I loved all kinds of art, painting, drawing, sculpting, welding… I could get my servos dirty and in doing so really say what I was feeling, and it made me feel so much lighter inside.

And even though I was meek in close quarters combat, I was a natural marksman. It was one of the few things that I actually had pride in, and under Cee, Mia, Moonracer, and Mia's tutelage I had become a Master Marksman. My skills in weaponry were so advanced that I had a one hundred percent accuracy rating with any ranged weapon now. I was confident in this skill. It was one of the few ways that I was actually useful during the war.

My medical skills were another area that I was of use in. Back when I'd started I didn't know a mesh bandage from welding metal I swear! But after training with Uncle for all this time I was an Expert Medic as well. Second only to him in that area.

The point I was trying to make is that I was really able to fit in with somebot…

I wasn't locked in that basement anymore…

But now… I couldn't stop thinking of those days…

I didn't feel good enough anymore.

My optics slid from side to side, taking in the two mechs on either side of me… Both pressed up tight against me under the thermal blanket I distinctly remember having pushed off of me last night…

I wasn't good enough for them.

I needed to go.

I'd decided that they could find a femme better than me. One who was prettier, smarter, funnier, and was everything I would never be.

With coolant pooling in my optics, I eased my way out of their embrace and scaled down the berth and onto the floor, and from there I quietly crept through the house. I didn't know where to go or what to take… I couldn't take Sparky, nor did I have time to take anything else…

Well I wasn't going to leave New Iacon… I was just going to go talk to Cee and see if I could stay with her and Flareup… then I'd come back and break up with the twins. Afterwards I'd arrange to have my things picked up…

At least that was the plan…

But I froze just short of the door for some reason…

Why? Why was I wasting time standing here like this? If I didn't hurry they'd wake up and then there would be an argument over me trying to leave…

So why wasn't I leaving while I had the chance?

The answer came to me quicker than I was expecting… and I slumped against the door frame dejectedly when I realized why… Because even knowing how disgusting and filthy I was… I didn't want to leave the mechs I actually allowed myself to love. Even if I knew that I wasn't good enough, and that I didn't deserve them.

I warred with myself over everything. Standing here doing nothing… Wasting time…

How long went by? I wasn't sure… But I still didn't move… I should have. I should have just walked out and never come back.

"Princess? What are you doing?"

I tensed, slowly turning to peer at Sides who was standing at the corner of the stairs watching me. The expression on his face was one of concern, and he looked like he was torn between not wanting to move, or wanting to come closer.

I turned around so that I was pressed against the door with my wings splayed out over the surface.

He seemed to realize something, optics widening as he lost the battle of wills that kept him in place and finally took a step forward. "You were trying to leave. Why?"

"I just… I have to…"

"Is this because you're afraid of Sunny now? Because if it is I can tell you that he'd never go berserk and hurt you. He did it to protect you."

My helm shot up as instant guilt and shock pulsated in my spark. "No! No that's not it! I'm not scared of him!"

"Then why? Why are you trying to leave us if you're not scared of him?"

"I… I... I just want you to be happy... And... I know that... you're better off without me... I'm not worth the trouble... Sunny could get arrested for what he did yesterday!"

Sides' optics softened as he took several steps towards me. "Don't be afraid that he's going to get in trouble for that Ati. Nobot will even know that he was involved I promise."

"You don't know that! Somebot could have seen us!"

"I do know Princess. And besides, I care more about the fact that you think we're not happy with you. I don't know why you think that, but it's farther from the truth than anything I've ever heard in my life. You've made us the happiest mechs in the world Princess. And wow… I sound like the cheesiest, sappiest mech on Cybertron right now…" He trailed off, before shrugging and grinning. "Oh well. Everything I said was true so who cares?"

My spark pulsed with bittersweet feelings of joy, love, guilt, and self-loathing. Just hearing those words made me want to run and jump into his arms, yet at the same time it strengthened my resolve to leave just as much. These two were so handsome, sweet, loving… and they could have better. They would if I just turned and left…

"I have to go…" I whimpered, but I couldn't make myself move… I was just frozen in place…

Both of our helms whipped around as Sunny came around the corner from the stairs. "Go where?" He asked seriously. "Where are you going to go? Why? Does this have something to do with what happened last night?"

"No! No that's not-!"

He strode up to stop right in front of me. "Don't ever be afraid that I'll turn on you when I'm like that. I promise that I'll never hurt you Athena."

"I know."

His arms came up to cage me in against the door. "Then why do you want to leave us? And don't give me this scrap about not being good enough for us! I want an honest fragging answer about why we should let you turn around and walk out! We're not going to let this happen!"

"Sunny I…" I started, only to be cut off when my HUD pinged with an incoming comm link from Prowl. "Hold on an astrosecond, I have a comm message from Prowl."

 **:Prowl? Why are you comming me so early in the morning?:**

 **:I have an urgent mission for you. I need you to come to the base as soon as possible.:**

 **:Very well. I'll be there in a few breems.:**

 **:Ah, and bring the twins as well. They'll be going with you, and it saves me the helmache that comming Sideswipe would have caused.:**

 **:Of course. We'll be there soon.:**

With that I cut the link and turned back to the two, Sunny who was still waiting expectantly, and Sides who looking at him worriedly. "Prowl needs to see all three of us right away."

Sunny scowled. "Why?"

"We have a mission I guess."

Sides patted Sunny on the shoulder, tugging him forward and taking me by the arm. "Well at least it's not anything to do with your little berserk escapade last night bro. Let's just go and get this over with so we can come back and talk this whole thing over with Princess."

"Fine. But just so that she knows, we're not letting her break up with us."

"I agree."

I just kind of stared at the two while both took me by each arm and led me from the housing unit. Well they were surprisingly persistent… Not that it made me feel one hundred percent certain that it was ok for me to stay with them. I did want to but…

"So what kind of mission do you think we're getting?"

Sunny snorted. "Probably guard detail for a caravan or something boring like that."

"Well then why is he having Princess go with us? She's a medic. It would make more sense to have somebot like Bee or Blaster go instead."

I felt my lips tilting down into a scowl. "I'm also a marksman too."

"Ah right. I kind of forgot about that." He admitted sheepishly.

"I guess I can't really blame you for not knowing. I don't exactly flaunt it."

"Exactly. Anyways I hope we don't get another super boring assignment. The last two escort missions nearly made me die of boredom."

"Well I hope that it's nothing too dangerous." Sunny inserted, optics drifting down towards me not at all discreetly.

"Oh right. Wouldn't want Princess to get hurt somehow."

Oh great… now they were seeing me as the only weak link in the team we were about to become for the mission. "I'll have you two know that I'll kick your afts with any kind of ranged weapon any day. Even Moonracer, and Bluestreak didn't boast as many kills during the war as me. So if you're worried about having to sparklingsit me don't be."

They both blinked at me, then Sides grinned. "Well actions speak louder than words Princess. You'll have to show us that you can walk the walk."

I rolled my optics. "Whatever."

The rest of the walk to the base was done in silence. Maybe they were busy talking over what had happened a while ago, with me trying to leave and all. I wasn't sure, but I was too deep in my own thoughts to really care at the moment.

I really needed to figure out what I was doing… Later.

But we arrived at base, and I forced the thoughts away as we made our way to Prowl's office where he was sitting at his desk going over some data pads. He looked up when we arrived, sitting the stack he was working on aside. "Thank you for coming so promptly."

"Of course Prowl. What did you need to see us for?"

"Straight to the point as always Athena. I have an urgent mission request from New Kaon. Apparently a group of raiders has been attacking the energon mines located beyond the city walls, killing the workers and stealing the unprocessed energon. They've also been implicated in several murders, kidnappings, and rapes reported from inside the city."

By the time he'd finished speaking my processor was racing through relevant things I'd need or want to know. The more I knew about this group, the easier it would be to formulate a plan of action. "Is there any other relevant information on the group itself? Numbers? Any details on appearance? General time spans for when these incidents have occurred?"

"We're unsure how many there are, but I assume that the group isn't too large. They haven't been stealing excess stores from the mines, and if their numbers were large it would be much harder to commit these crimes without more witnesses."

"Unless the ones responsible actually broke off from a much larger group. At what rate are these attacks on the energon mines occurring?"

"Once every quartex or so."

Well that didn't really help me… "Even if it was a smaller group, that time span would give them plenty of time to recover, distribute the stolen reserves, and organize another attack." I trailed off with a sigh. "What general time of the day are the attacks occurring?"

"During 3rd shift."

"How many workers are reported to be mining in the mines at that time?"

"The targeted mines are some of the smaller ones located near Kaon, so a dozen or so workers are generally working it at any time."

"So there would probably have to be at least six or so armed raiders at least to restrain the workers, and then move the reserves before the next shift change. Have any of them been questioned?"

"Yes. However, details on both the raiders numbers, and weaponry have varied with each incident."

"So based off of that we should assume that others may be hanging back if things don't go according to plan." I concluded.

He nodded. "Yes. The details we have are sketchy at best, so I urge you to use extreme caution on this mission. I know that the war is over, and these are not Decepticons, but they are still dangerous."

"Of course. We'll be careful… well I will. I can't say anything about these two."

"Hey!" Sides gasped in mock hurt. "We're always careful."

I ignored him in favor of focusing on Prowl. "Is that all?"

"Yes it is. You three are to prepare for this mission and be ready to leave within a joor. I have tram passes for you to use that will take you all the way to Kaon, as well as some credits to use for anything you may need. We have no idea which area they will strike in next so your best bet would be to scope out New Kaon and see if you can find any leads there."

I stepped forward to take the small chips containing the passes for our tram ride, and our credit allotments. With them in hand I turned and made my way towards the door with the twins on either side of me, but before I left the room I remembered another important detail I'd forgotten about… I turned to look at the SIC over my shoulder. "Prowl?"

"Yes?"

"Are we allowed use of deadly force on this? Or strictly debilitation?"

The twins looked down at me in surprise.

"Use of deadly force is authorized. We don't need you to bring them back alive, unless you have a good reason to."

I nodded, before I finally left his office and started on my way to the armory where Ironhide and Mia kept and maintained my weapons for me.

The twins followed along after me, silently, well until Sides looked down at me with an expression that made me think he didn't know what to think... "Did you really just ask that Princess?"

"Yes I did."

"Well… you just don't seem the type to-!"

I cut him off. "Sides I already told you that I'm a marksman. I've killed before even if I don't really like it, but sometimes it's necessary and I have to accept that. And in this situation it is necessary. I don't know about you, but I'm not risking a limb to try bringing one of these aftholes back here."

Both just stared at me without commenting.

We walked into the armory at that moment, where Hide was milling about at one of his work desks. "Hey Hide!"

He turned to look at us. "Yeah?"

"You finish working on my Blue Rain yet?"

"Blue… Rain…?" Sides mumbled.

Hide nodded. "Yeah. It's finished and ready to blow somebot's helm clean off. I put it in your vault."

"Ok thanks. Have all my other weapons been given a tune up yet?"

"Yeah. Everything is rarin' to go half pint."

I made my way passed him, and into the storage vault area where all the weapons on base were stored… "Excellent…"

"Should we be afraid of you Princess?"

We made it to my individual vault, which was considerably larger than the rest of them. I typed in the entry-code to open the reinforced cybertanium doors. "No."

I really did mean that, but when the doors slid open and I led them into a large room that was lined with guns, guns, guns, grenades, explosives, and more guns… they both shuffled a little closer together, eyeing everything on display warily.

Maybe that was because I had weapons in here for every situation… Various high impact sniper rifles, some with armor piercing rounds, others explosive tipped caseless, some ion rifles, semi-automatic marksman rifles, C4, ion grenades, submachine guns, high impact servo-held blasters, and everything in between.

"Um, Princess…? You um, have a lot of guns…"

I walked over to the wall farthest from the door, where my pride and joy rifle sat on prominent display… My Blue Rain… She was perfection… so beautiful that I couldn't even describe her…

I reached up and plucked her up to cradle her against my chassis like one would a newborn sparkling, even going so far as to kiss the barrel. "Oh I've missed you Rain…" I rubbed the scope affectionately. "Ready to test out the new modification ole Hide upgraded you with?"

"Um… you're talking to your gun… and better yet, how do you use that gun when it's at least ¾ of your actual size?" Sides asked with wide optics.

I sighed dreamily. "You'll be surprised by just how good I am at using this fine piece of machinery…"

"I don't think I want to see it." He pointed out. "And just looking at that makes me afraid for my life."

"I won't use her on you. It wouldn't be nice to shred your joints before making them explode."

He slowly backed away to hide behind Sunny. The latter was looking at me like I'd suddenly grown an extra helm. "What kind of… modifications does that thing have?"

I perked up a bit. "Oh she's a high impact sniper rifle that uses explosive rounds, that just so happen to have a screw like tip that allows the spinning motion of the bullet to have a much more pronounced armor piercing effect… And she's also suppressed, so nobot even knows a thing before they're dead!"

Now Sunny was backing away too. "Ok… just promise me that you won't point that thing in our general direction…"

I just nodded, nuzzling the expanse of Blue Rain's black plating which was lined with gold trimming…

"Hey… there's no red trimming on that gun!" Sides pouted.

"I've had her since right after the war started Sides, so way before I met you two. Maybe I'll add some red trimming to her too?"

He perked up. "Yay! Now we really need to get around so that we can leave… So uh… get everything you need."

Nodding, I spun Rain around behind me and allowed her to break down to form an additional bit of plating along my back strut. I perused the rest of my assorted weaponry, before selecting a more versatile mid to long-range marksman rifle with explosive tipped rounds, an ion blaster, and another servo iron blaster…

I looked my selection over quickly… "I need some explosives too… just in case…" I looked back up at the wall… "Should I go with C4… or Ionsemtex? I can stick the latter and detonate it… maybe an acid grenade? Could eat the joints away with that… Oooh! Maybe some heated shrapnel bombs!"

"Princess…"

"Which one…?"

"Athena we need-!"

"What's most versatile in this situation? I should probably choose two…"

"Athena seriously-!"

"And take a few of each…"

"Athena!"

I squinted my optics, carefully looking between the acid grenades, ionsemtex, and the heated shrapnel bombs… Maybe I should use smoke grenades? Or maybe… stun grenades? I'd take the ionsemtex, heated shrapnel, and some smoke grenades just in case.

I snatched a few of each off the wall and shoved them into by subspace.

"Um, Princess? Can you carry all those guns?"

"Absolutely. I can shove a few in subspace, and the blasters can attach to my forearms."

They waited patiently for me to do that.

"Are you ready to go now?" Sunny asked after I finished collapsing my weapons against my frame.

"Yes."

"Then let's go so Sides and I can get around, we need to get our weapons around too. Afterwards we need to get to the tram station so we don't miss our ride."

"Alright let's go."

Together we left the vault after I locked it up.

Hopefully the earlier events of today wouldn't distract me too much from the mission.

* * *

R&R! If you guys want a general idea of what Blue Rain looks like this is it!  . /halo/images/5/5b/H4_binary_ /revision/latest?cb=20131121035252


	27. Chapter 27: Just Tell Us Why!

So we finally get to see Athena's skills on the field! I think you all are going to be surprised by how good she is at what she does! Some other things are going to be picked up on in this one too! I at least want to hint at them anyways so bare with me. I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

The tram barreled down the tracks, rocking gently here and there. It was nothing nearly as pronounced as the trains on Earth, more like a subtle vibration resonating in my frame. It was actually kind of nice, like a massage.

Or it would have been nice if the occupants of the car weren't so tense at the moment, myself included. The reason for that being caused by several factors, like Athena trying to walk out on us this morning, and the fact that she wasn't sitting with us on our bench. Instead she was sitting next to the window on the opposite bench from us.

She'd been there the entire ride so far… Not speaking, or looking at us.

All while we both stared at her in a mixture of longing, sorrow, frustration, anger, and confusion. Sunny was convinced it was because he had scared her with his episode last night, but I was convinced it was because of something else. He just wouldn't listen to my attempts to explain that to him.

Instead he was caught in this fear that she'd actually leave us, and that we'd lose the femme we loved like few others could comprehend. If she left we'd never be able to move on from the pain that would cause. We'd never want another femme the same way, and we'd most likely spend the rest of our lives wishing she'd come back…

His emotions spiked again, sending turmoil surging through our bond. **(I knew I'd scare her away…)** He mumbled regretfully. **(I just wanted to protect her… I couldn't stop it.)**

I tossed an arm over his shoulder and pulled him into a side hug. **(It's not about that Sunny. If it was because of that, why would she say those things about wanting to make us happy? About her not being good enough for us? There's something else going on with her right now, and I think it was caused by her being attacked last night. We just need to talk to her about it.)**

 **(How? How can we talk to her when she hasn't said a word the entire time we've been on the tram?)**

 **(We just need to take the initiative and say something to her!)**

 **(And if she won't say anything back?)**

 **(Then we keep asking. Unless you're gonna give up on her?)**

His helm whipped to the side so that he could give me the most scathing glare he'd ever directed at me. **(Never! I may have screwed this up already, but I'm not going to let her go!)**

 **(I thought so…)**

 **(That doesn't change the fact that I don't know what to say to her.)**

I turned away with a smirk. **(Leave that to me.)**

I slowly got up and made my way over to plop down next to her on the opposite bench. "Hey Princess."

She slowly turned her helm away from watching the scenery go by to stare at me instead. "Yes Sides?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She responded hastily.

I hummed quietly, no more than a subsonic vibration through my chassis. "Then why don't I believe that?"

"Don't know."

My arm drifted up to wrap around her shoulders, and in turn her optics shot up to my face again. I tightened my grip on her, bringing her almost flush against me. "You know that we need to talk about what happened this morning right?"

Bright crystal blue optics drifted down to the side evasively. "Sides we have a mission to complete and that's more important right now."

"Well I say that you're more important than any mission!" I shot back.

"Just drop it for now."

"No. Sunny and I don't want to lose you Athena."

"Not now Sides."

Sunny growled from across the car, drawing our attention over to him. His expression was every bit as torn as he was feeling inside, brimming with guilt, fear, sadness, regret, and desperation. All mixing together in this storm brewing in his optics. "This is because I scared you isn't it? You want to leave because you're afraid of me!"

Athena tensed against me, optics going wide. "No! I already said it wasn't because of that!"

"Then why did you want to leave? Why were you trying to walk out on us?"

"I didn't want to!" She shot back in near hysterics.

"Then why were you trying to?!"

"Why does that matter now?! I thought I had to, but I didn't want to!"

The turbulent emotions raging through the bond suddenly simmered as confusion replaced the majority of them. "Why would you think you have to leave?" We both chorused together.

She opened her mouth to say something but snapped it shut instead, turning with a huff to stare back out the window. "Just drop it for now."

We would have pushed for more, but the sudden increase in vibrations as the tram slid to a stop in New Kaon station forced us to let it go for now. She was right about one thing we did need to focus on the mission at hand. Then on the ride back to New Iacon we'd figure out what this morning's episode was all about.

I looked out the window as well, taking in the much different Kaon that existed now… Instead of decrepit old looming buildings coated with rust and grime, they were pristine and designed far better than they used to be.

It wasn't only the buildings that had changed either. The bots milling about were far less shady looking than they used to be. Younglings and their creators were walking up and down the walkway just outside the tram, some buying energon candies at vending stalls, and others were just milling about while waiting for their respective tram rides.

Back when we grew up here it wasn't safe to even turn your back to somebot else… Not that we were complacent to any dangers that could still exist, because Kaon would always be Kaon, and it would always attract the rough types. We'd be sure to stay close to Princess because of that.

We made sure to close in on her as we made our way off the tram and into the crowded station. I could tell that she wasn't comfortable either, because she actually pressed herself close enough that her plating was brushing against ours.

 **:Where to first Princess?:**

 **:Well according to the details given by Prowl, most of the murders that occurred in the city took place in the red light district… near the clubs… and brothels. I'd rather avoid that area but I guess I kind of have to go there…:**

Sunny huffed through the comm link. **:I don't want to take you to a brothel.:**

We left the station and made our way down the street towards… well we were following her so I had no idea where we were actually going. **:Where are we going Princess?:**

 **:To rent a room for the night. And as for your comment Sunny, you aren't taking me there. I'm going there on my own.:**

His optics narrowed, frame tensing as we neared her first intended destination. **:I don't want other mechs thinking you're one of the pleasurebots. They can't touch you!:**

 **:We have to go there. It's the best place we can gather information.:**

 **:Fine! But you stay close to us!:** Sunny warned her.

 **:I will.:**

At that moment we walked into a decent looking hotel and made out way up to the reception counter where a bright sky blue femme was working. She looked up as we approached, smiling brightly at Sunny and I. "Hello."

Athena cleared her throat to cause the femme to stop leering at us, and focus on her instead. "We need a room big enough for all three of us."

She blinked, then looked down at the console she was working. "Well… we only have one room with two single sized berths, and another with a single."

"We'll all take the room with two berths." Sunny answered before Athena could make a sound.

"I'm sorry but it goes against hotel policy to rent out a room to a group with more occupants than there are berths. One of you will have to take the single as well."

"Fine." Athena answered, cutting Sunny off when he went to ream the femme like no tomorrow. "We'll take both then."

"Athena…" My twin growled at her.

But she just ignored him and handed the chip with our funds on it over to the receptionist, who quickly scanned it and logged the changes into the console, before handing it back along with two card keys. She turned and handed us the card key for the double room, then pushed passed us to make her way over to the grav-lift elevators.

We followed her into them, pressing ourselves against the opposite wall as it slowly drifted up to the fourth floor where our rooms were… one of which would not be used… probably the single. When they arrived at the proper floor we followed her down the hall as she glanced between the card keys and door numbers.

She turned towards us outside of a door that read number 14. "Uhh… this is your room here."

"No this is our room." Sunny corrected her.

"Sunny there's not enough room for all of us in that room."

"It's called pushing the berths together."

"You think we're all going to fit on two single berths pushed together? You two will be lucky to fit on one each!"

"I'm sure we can make it work Princess."

She sighed. "Alright. So who's recharging on the floor?"

Sunny snatched the other card key from her. "None of us are going to have to recharge on the floor." He stomped passed her to find the other room with the single berth.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wait!" He called back as he disappeared into the room.

The sound of something heavy being pushed across the floor started up almost instantly, then we stood there staring as a berth was shoved through the door way, followed by my twin who cursed when it got caught on the frame. I skirted around Athena to grab the other end and pull it the rest of the way through, then from there we carried it passed her and into the other room.

We sat it down near the berth farthest from the window, then we took that one and pushed it against the other two to make one large berth. Now she couldn't argue about recharging in the same room with us!

Athena came stomping in right after we finished that. "You two can't just move hotel property from room to room like this! Put it back!"

Sunny stomped passed her to shut and lock the door, then he turned and crossed his arms over his chassis. "I think we just did."

She scowled. "You two are being ridiculous! Recharging in separate rooms is not going to kill you!"

"And recharging in the same room won't kill any of us either." He pointed out.

It appeared as though she sensed that she wasn't going to beat him in this argument, because she turned with a huff and stomped over to jump up onto the berths. "Fine! But everything is getting put back in its proper place when we check out, and I am not moving anything! You two can since it was your brilliant idea!"

"Fine then, we'll handle that when the time comes. For now, we have other things to worry about don't we?"

She frowned, but nodded none-the-less. She quickly raised her servo and projected the notes she'd been given by Prowl. "I accessed the files Prowl sent me via comm link, and it seems that the string of attacks are relatively localized in a relatively small area located in the red light district, near the edge of the warehouse district."

I leaned over the side of the berth. "You think they're hiding out in the warehouse district?"

"It's possible. That, or they're hiding their stolen reserves there until they can either use them, or sell them off."

"So we check there first?"

"We could, but there's a scrap ton of warehouses that they could be using. It'd take us forever to check them all, and for all we know they don't have anything stored currently. Our best bet is to check the clubs nearest to where the attacks have taken place. There aren't many reports on what these mechs look like, but there are a few general descriptions here…"

She quickly changed the projection to a list of general physical traits that had been reported by some of the witnesses. "There isn't much here, but there is one consistent description that has been reported during the raids on the energon mines, and from one of the murders. It's pretty sketchy, but apparently a Kaonian mech was present during several of the attacks on the mines, and he was seen leaving the scene of one of the murders. The general description of him seems to be relatively the same, tall, plain coal coloration, red optics. That's the only recurring description of any of the attackers."

"So we're going to go scout out one of the clubs, in the hopes that this mech shows up?" Sunny questioned incredulously.

"What do you suggest? Hmm? Set up a stakeout at every mine within distance of New Kaon and hope that the entire group of raiders will show up one night? Or comb the entire warehouse district for something that might not even be there?" Athena shot back.

He huffed. "We don't even know which club he'll show up at!"

"It happened near the Ethereal Paradise Club. We'll start there."

We both stared at her in uncertainty. "Doesn't that place serve as a brothel too? I'm not sure that we should take you there…"

"Sides I don't want to go to these places, but I need to. So I'm going to set aside my own personal comfort zones and go into one of the places I promised myself I'd never enter. Don't make this more difficult for me than it already is!"

I held my servos up defensively. "Alright! Alright! I won't bug you about it… But just promise us that you won't wander off in there?"

"I have no plans to do that at present." She muttered.

"You better not get any ideas about wondering off at all." Sunny grumbled.

"What did I just say?"

"I don't care what you said! I'm saying that you better not go anywhere without one of us!"

I watched the two glare at each other heatedly.

Tensions really were running rampant…

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

The bass shook the walls and floor, vibrating up through my frame in time with the music booming out from the speakers. Everywhere I looked bots were dancing, drinking, doing drugs, and every so often a pleasuremech or femme would drag a patron into the closed off sections upstairs. That was what the balconies over-helm were for. Some had the curtains or metal shades closed, others were completely exposed, along with the occupants within.

Meaning if you looked close enough you could see exactly what they were doing.

I remember a time when I would have loved to be in a place like this, or more specifically the canopies above… Sides and I had certainly seen our fair share of places like this, and what went down within them. But it was clear to me that Athena was uncomfortable being here. After what had happened to her two nights ago it wasn't a surprise.

She'd rarely spoken to us in the day that we'd been in New Kaon.

She didn't seem to want to touch us either. Instead she ended up curling into herself last night when we went to berth, keeping as far from us as possible on the too small berth. And she'd carried on like that after we'd risen for the day, only speaking about our assignment, or muttering strategic comments to herself.

And now here we were, casing this brothel out with her acting completely the opposite of how she had been earlier. She was tucked close to us, door wings sitting alert on her back, optics narrowed as she watched the bots writhing all over every inch of this place.

I felt bad that she had to be here when the vibrations from the music must be torturous for her wings to be buffeted with. But she wasn't complaining about it, or even letting it affect her. Which was a surprise really.

 **:So what now Princess?:**

 **:Well… I'd like to get a view of the lower levels of the club. But the only way I can do that is to either get up into the rafters, or one of the… balcony rooms.:**

 **:You are not going up into one of those rooms.:** I growled.

 **:I never said I was going to have a pleasuremech take me up there! I was going to cloak and hide out in one!:**

 **:You have a cloaking device Princess?:**

 **:Yes I do. That's why I suggested that. Unless you two have a better idea?:**

I would've continued arguing her idea, but after a brief contemplation of the pros and cons I realized it was the best option we had. I would've offered to go up myself, but I didn't have a cloaking device so I couldn't just hide out in one. And I wasn't about to _**'rent'**_ a pleasurebot for company as an excuse to use one of the balconies.

That left Athena as the only one that could get in without the need for that. We'd just get ourselves kicked out in that situation.

 **:Fine! Just be careful Athena! Keep the comm channel open and let us know what's going on at all times!:**

 **:I will. If I see anything of importance I'll let you know.:**

We nodded, watching as she stepped out of sight of the other patrons and shimmered out of sight. And we were left standing there, staring at the space she had disappeared in… Knowing that she was wandering around in a place like this alone made me paranoid…

 **:Comm channel open?:** I asked less than ten astroseconds after she'd vanished.

She gave an exasperated sigh. **:Yes Sunny. I promised to keep it open! Now let me focus on getting onto the upper level please!:**

 **:Leave the thing all the way open so we can hear everything that's going on!:**

 **:Ok.:**

It was hard to tell if she actually listened because the sounds she'd be hearing were most likely the exact same as what was already assaulting our audios. I listened closely, until I clearly heard the almost nonexistent sound of a door opening and closing. **:Ok. I'm perched in the canopy in the farthest reaches of the upper right corner.:**

 **:Copy. We'll scout the place out and see if we pick out anything that you don't.:**

 **(I'll go down to the dance floor and see if I can pick anybot out. I don't really know what else to do. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.)**

I grunted in agreement. Of all the ridiculous assignments we'd ever been on. **(Alright. I'll check around the bar.)**

We broke off, Sides disappearing into the throng of writhing frames pushing against each other on the brightly colored dance floor. Some fast paced techno song was playing and everybot present was in a frenzy over it.

I turned away from the mass and approached the bar instead. There were a few mechs and scantily armored waitresses milling around as I approached and sat down on one of the stools. The bartender, a Kaonian mech of average height came over to ask me what I wanted to drink.

"Regular mid-grade." I grumbled.

He left to get me what I asked for, leaving me to glare at anybot close by. I didn't see a fragging bot that remotely resembled the vague description we had. Primus this was a waste of time…

 **(Do you see anything yet Sides?)**

 **(Not a thing. I don't hear anything on Princess's end either.)**

I switched over to my comm link. **:See anything yet Athena?:**

 **:Not yet.:**

 **:No luck on my end either… Something tells me this isn't going to lead us anywhere, or something bad is going to happen.:**

 **:Stop being so negative Sides. Everything will be fine.:** Athena chastised him.

Somebot suddenly plopped down next to me, which forced me to tune out the chatting going on in my helm in favor of turning to face the pearl colored Kaonian femme that had taken the stool next to mine. She had bright red optics, and red paint on her lips and lining her optics.

The bartender returned with my energon as she purred at me lustfully. "Hello."

The chatter over the comm link suddenly died down. Oh for the love of Primus…

"What's a handsome mech like you doing all alone? Nobot wants to keep you company?"

I grunted. "I have a femmefriend so get lost."

She pouted at me in what was probably supposed to be a cute way, but really just made me want to tell her she looked like her tailpipe was clogged up and she was straining to force whatever it was out. "That's not nice…"

"It wasn't supposed to be."

"And here I was only trying to offer you some company since you seemed lonely."

"Well don't. I have a femmefriend."

Her mouth fell open in a small **'o'.** "Oh? Then why are you in a place like this? She not satisfying you?"

I glared at her. "Not that it's any of your fragging business, but yes she's satisfying me!"

She giggled fakely. "Well you sure don't seem satisfied at the moment. If anything you look far too tense for it to be good for you. Maybe I can help with that…" She purred suggestively.

"Not interested. My femme's far more enticing than you are. You just look like you rolled out of some mech's berth and fell face first into a puddle of paint."

Sides snickered over the bond. **(Nice one bro! Nice one!)**

The femme gasped in outrage. "You are so rude!"

"Well if I ever decide to stop being rude and repent for my ways I'll make a note to come back to this brothel and find you so that I can apologize for telling the truth." I snipped derisively.

She sneered at me and stood up to storm off into the throng of bots milling around. Served the fragging glitch right for trying to hit on me when my femme was watching! I had better things to do than waste time with her anyways!

So I turned towards the crowd and surveyed those closest to me, slowly drinking my energon as my optics drifted over the different faces and frames gathered around. Not one seemed to fit the sketchy description that we had. Not that I expected to find anything. But I guess I should at least keep looking.

I stood up and slowly pushed my way through the crowd, continuing to look around for anything that might give us a lead. There were just too many bots for me to pick one out though, some phasing in and out of sight, colors melding together creating blurry flashes as frames seemed to just disappear.

This was going nowhere fast…

I made my way towards the stairs. **:It's no use Athena. There's nothing of interest happening down here.:**

She didn't respond immediately like I expected her to.

 **:Athena? Do you copy?:**

Still nothing.

 **(Sides when was the last time Athena checked in with you?)**

 **(Uhh… a breem or so ago. Why?)**

 **(Because I checked in with her and she's not responding.)**

He got quiet for a moment, then I heard him speaking through the comm link as well. **:Princess? Do you hear us? Why aren't you answering Sunny?:**

Once again she didn't answer, and I started to worry that something had happened to her so I turned and practically sprinted up to the floor where the pleasure rooms were located. I ran towards the room she was supposed to be in, ignoring the sounds of bots writhing in pleasure in the rooms I passed by. Until I got to the one she was supposed to be in and rushed inside. It seemed empty, an unused berth in the center of the room, a lounge off to the side, but nothing else. She was cloaking though… "Athena?"

Still nothing.

My panic only escalated further… **:Athena! Say something for frag's sake!:** I yelled over the comm link.

This time I received an aggravated sigh from her. **:What? I'm trying to concentrate on something at the moment.:**

 **:Where the frag are you?!:**

 **:I spotted a group of mechs a little over a breem ago, one fit the general description given by a few of the witnesses. They left a few kliks ago and I decided to tail them.:**

Sides and I both growled in aggravation. **:What the frag did we say about wandering off Athena? New Kaon is dangerous!:**

 **:I'm cloaking Sunny! Nobot can see me and they don't know that I'm following them! Just calm down!:**

 **:Calm down? You almost gave us a spark attack femme! We thought that somebot had grabbed you or something!:**

 **:I'm fine. Now let me focus!:**

 **:Where are you? We're coming to find you!:**

 **:If you come you'll blow everything and this could actually be a good lead! Just let me see if I can learn anything!:**

 **:Athena… You don't even know that it's the actual mech for sure! For all you know you could be following just another group of ruffians all over New Kaon!:**

 **:And you may need backup if something goes wrong!:**

 **:Nothing is going to go wrong! What part of,** _ **'I'm invisible'**_ **do you two not comprehend right now? They can't see me!:**

 **:Athena just-!:**

 **:Shhh! I think I got something!:**

There was a short burst of static as she put her audio settings at the maximum, allowing us to hear the faint conversation between at least four mechs.

 **:Where is the next hit taking place Raidface?:**

 **:We're pushing a little bit farther out this time Leadweight. The next hit is at the Quantum 7 mine. We haven't hit that place yet.:**

 **:When?:**

 **:02:00 joors, two solar cycles from now. Gather every able bodied bot, and don't screw this up. It's gonna be our biggest hit yet.:**

The volume cut back a bit. **:You guys hear that?:**

Sides and I met up outside the club. **:Yeah we heard it.:** I grumbled. **:But I'm still slagged off that you ran off without telling us.:**

 **:Well nothing can be done about it now. I'll meet you back at the hotel room in a breem or so.:**

 **:Fine.:**

Fragging femme was going to drive me crazy at this rate…

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I was actually feeling pretty satisfied with myself at the moment. For once I was able to do something useful that didn't involve repairing somebot, or shooting their helms off. I never thought about being a Spybot but maybe I should have given it some thought when I was younger? Eh, probably not a good idea.

But at least we had something to go off of now. A real solid lead. That was better than nothing.

Now about what awaited me on the other side of this door…

I sighed, steeling myself before I entered the hotel room I was sharing with the twins. Immediately upon stepping inside I was plucked up and practically crushed against a bright gold chassis.

"Femme don't you ever wander off alone in this City again!"

I squirmed against his hold. "Sunny!"

He squeezed me even tighter. "You were almost raped the other day Athena! What could possibly possess you to wander off after that happened? In New Kaon no less? The worst kind of bots from all over Cybertron gather here!"

I finally managed to maneuver myself enough that I could look up at him. "I'm okay."

His features were pinched together in worry and frustration, lips turned down in a scowl as he regarded me. "You could have been hurt. Don't you ever do that again!"

I gently extricated myself from his hold. "Ok. I won't do it again."

With that I pushed passed him and plopped myself down on a red lounge that rested just next to the window. I leaned back against it and stared out the window at the night life of New Kaon. During the day the place seemed a lot better than it used to be, but at night it still had an ominous feel to it. It was dark and dreary…

"Princess?"

I turned to look at both mechs who were standing close to the lounge I was laying on. "Yes?"

Sides shifted nervously. "Well… we were wondering if we could talk about what happened the other morning. I mean we have two days before we need to focus on the mission again."

My spark pulsed painfully at the reminder of what I was still warring with myself over. It wasn't that I wanted to leave, or that I didn't love these two with all of my spark… I just… knew that they deserved so much better than me. There were so many things I was hiding, many of which I wasn't sure that I could ever share. And for a real future it was imperative that I could talk to them about anything. I wasn't sure that I could tell them all that I'd experienced.

All my shameful secrets…

But at the same time I didn't want to leave and be alone again. As selfish as it was, these two made me feel so much better about myself, even if I knew that I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve them. Even though I fully realized all of these things… I didn't think I could make myself leave at this point. It would destroy me…

My door wings drooped in defeat as I turned to stare out the window again. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it? You were trying to leave!"

"I know." I mumbled quietly.

A flash of gold plating brightened my peripheral vision as Sunny plopped down next to me. "Why do you suddenly want to leave us?"

"I don't."

"You could have fooled us when you tried walking out on us while we were in recharge!"

"But I didn't walk out! I didn't actually do it so why can't you just drop it?!"

"Because you wouldn't have contemplated it for no reason! We want to know why!" He pressed unrelentingly. "I didn't mean to scare you with the whole berserk episode! But you have to know that I wouldn't have turned on you! I love you dammit!"

"We love you." Sides interjected. "We just want to know what we did wrong so we can fix it."

I felt my spark constrict painfully due to the desperation I could clearly see in their optics. It wasn't them! They didn't do anything wrong! It was all me! I was what was wrong with this relationship! "You didn't do anything! It's me!"

They both tensed. "What do you mean it's you?"

"Just what I said! Neither of you did anything to warrant any of my stupidity over the last few days. I've just… had some issues that I need to work out." I trailed off lamely. That was being said on the off chance that there was a way for me to work any of my issues out in the first place.

"Issues? What issues? Is this about what almost happened that made me go berserk in the first place?"

No… not really… just everything that had ever happened to me for over half my life…

I couldn't answer them, because I didn't want to lie any more than I already had.

And for that reason Sides took the initiative and walked around to sit on the opposite side of the lounge, closest to the window. "Princess you know we won't judge you for that right? Even if… he had succeeded with what he wanted to do, we wouldn't want to let you go because of that. We'd still love you either way."

Not if they knew everything…

I'd never tell them everything… for fear that they'd actually want to leave me when they found out.

Even if their optics were screaming for me to be honest with them right now. I just couldn't make myself share all of those moments. I'd never been able to.

So instead, I stood and slowly ambled over to the berth to climb in under the covers. I snuggled up against my designated pillow, curling in on myself defensively, not even flinching as two large frames slid in next to me.

One in front, another behind, both ignoring personal boundaries in favor of pushing themselves flush against me.

And all I could think was…

It felt right… and I hated myself for thinking that.

* * *

R&R!


	28. Chapter 28: Mission Gone Wrong Kinda

Writing these last two chapters was soooo hard! I think the next one will come a lot easier actually. At least I hope so! I don't own Transformers!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Tonight was the night the mine was supposed to be raided, and right now the twins and I were out gathering anything we might end up needing in case we ended up being out in the badlands for longer than anticipated. The area was rough, desolate and dry landscape, often pelted periodically with acid storms… We needed to be prepared for anything that could go wrong.

That was why we hit the market first thing this morning in order to get extra energon reserves, medical supplies that I may need, including mesh bandages, welding metal, silicone spray for more serious wounds, and antivirus boosters.

The twins had been glued to my aft the entire time we were in the marketplace so far, rarely straying more than a step away from me during our outing. It was kind of comforting still, even if I was still beating myself up over everything.

Luckily they hadn't bothered me about it again. Instead they'd taken to acting almost like things were completely normal, and by that I mean they were basically trailing around after me. And that meant in the hotel room, which we hadn't strayed from until today, so basically they were following me around the room from the time we all got up, to the time we hit the berth at night.

It wasn't so bad I guess… well not compared to the alternative of them badgering me with questions I either couldn't, or wouldn't answer. They at least seemed to respect the fact that I wasn't ready to talk about what was on my processor at the moment. Well Sides was, Sunny still seemed rather impatient to know. Not that he'd actually asked, but whereas Sides was trying to act like it wasn't eating away at him, Sunny spent most of his time just staring at me with this intensity that unsettled me. Like he was trying to work out what made me who I was inside.

I really didn't want him to find whatever it was he was looking for. I wanted to bottle up all my secrets and shove them into the farthest recesses of my processor, so that I would never have to think about them again. And so nobot else would ever find them either…

I jolted when a large servo came to rest on my shoulder, prompting me to shoot a look up at Sides.

"Do we need anything else Princess?"

"Oh…" I turned away and went over what we'd already picked up in my helm… We'd already picked up the medical supplies we needed, as well as spare ammunition just in case the twins ran out. There was no way that I would… So we still needed to pick up our energon reserves. "Uh, we need energon still."

He took me by the arm and led me over to an energon stall. "Well let's get it taken care of then Princess."

We stopped in front of it and looked over what they had in display. There were plenty of different types of flavored energon. Sweet, spiced, regular mid-grade, high-grade, even some medical grade which was unusual, but then again it wasn't unheard of for stalls to sell it. And we may actually need some too…

I quickly grabbed a few cubes of medical grade, and a dozen or so cubes of regular mid-grade and paid for them. Then I handed them off to Sunny who had been silently standing behind me the entire time. He took them and stored them in his subspace.

"Is there anything else we need?"

"No I think that's good."

He grunted. "What now? Are we just gonna go back to the hotel and wait? Or should we stop and top off somewhere?"

Sides leaned around and put his two cents in. "We should go top off somewhere!"

With that he grabbed onto my arm and dragged me through the crowded marketplace and down the streets of New Kaon. It only took us a few kliks to get to a small restaurant not too far from the market district.

It was a plain black and white checker pattered diner, a design concept I had only seen and heard of after bots had returned from Earth and brought back some of their cultural anomalies. The inside was much the same as the outside, and from the corner of my optic I saw Sunny cringe at the blasé color scheme. Sides seemed unconcerned with it if the way he just dragged me over to a corner booth was any indication.

He pushed Sunny in first, then shoved me into the middle, before he slid in and blocked me inside.

"Sides this is the most horribly designed place you have ever forced me to refuel in." Sunny grumbled sourly.

Sides snorted. "I didn't know that the look of the restaurant mattered so long as you could refuel."

"My optics already hurt from staring at the walls."

"Pansy."

"What the frag did you just call me?"

"A pansy."

I sighed when Sunny took a swing at Sides and nailed him in the side of the helm, making him release a startled yelp as he nearly fell out of the booth. "Both of you cut it out right now. We're in public. Act your ages."

Sides pouted. "Sunny hit me Princess!"

"Sunny don't hit him."

He scoffed at me. "He asked for it when he dragged me into a place like this! My optic sensors are going to be permanently fried from being in here."

"Don't be such a baby Sunny!"

"Call me that again Sides…"

"Enough!" I scolded them rather harshly. "Primus you two act like sparklings sometimes! We came here to refuel, not judge the interior designing, or fight over it! Just behave!"

Sides pouted. "Fine…"

Reaching out, I pulled over the console for the menu and turned it on so that I could look over what they had here. A quick glance told me that they had a wide assortment of things, from potassium, mercury, and rust shakes, all the way to oil cake and cream, and just about everything in between. Another interesting thing about this place was that you could order from the console, which would probably explain why no waitresses had come over yet.

I quickly ordered some sweet energon and a slice of oil cake. "What do you two want?"

"Um… ooh! I want to try a rust shake!"

I added that to the order, "What else? You need energon too."

"Hmm… energon cake?"

I added that on, before turning towards Sunny. "What about you?"

"Spiced energon and some oil cake."

Now that I had his portion I quickly typed the rest in and sent the order out, leaning back against the booth afterwards to relax and wait for it. Well as much as I could relax when my companions had taken to staring at me again. "Why are you two staring at me?" I murmured quietly.

"You know why." Sides murmured.

I turned away from him. "Sides…"

"We don't know what's gotten into you lately. You're so upset, and you won't let us try to help you. You just keep pushing us away."

Because I don't want you to know what's bothering me.

"You keep distancing yourself from us and we want to know why. We want to know what's wrong so that we can help you get through it. We don't like seeing you this way." He finished quietly.

I opened my mouth to speak when our waiter came over with our order. The relatively tall, dark burgundy colored, Kaonian mech sat our items down in front of us. And for some reason the twins tensed when his bright blue optics briefly drifted over me. Well that was a little strange…

He stepped back and flashed a bright grin. "Need anything else?"

"No thank you." I answered politely.

He hesitated instead of leaving to do something else, seeming to be warring with himself for some reason or other.

"Um, is there something we can do for you?" I pressed when he continued to stare at me.

"No. Nothing… I was just, well I apologize if this is forward but you have a very nice chassis."

My door wings hiked up as my jaw dropped, but before I could comment on that statement a flash of gold slid around the aforementioned area to obscure it from view. Then he yanked me into his side and leaned around in front of me so that as little of my frame was visible as possible, releasing a low, menacing growl. "You like this chassis huh? Well too fragging bad! It's our chassis! BACK OFF!"

I squeaked when he turned me so that my chassis was pressed against his. "Sunny!"

He continued growling as Sides pressed his frame against my back, and he started growling just like his brother. "You want a piece of us mech? Look at her chassis one more fragging time!"

"Yeah! We'll kick your aft!"

Oh Primus… how did refueling turn into a possible almost-death-match?

"Ok. Ok I'm leaving. I'm not going to fight you for her."

I couldn't see what happened next, but I assumed that the waiter left because the growling died down after a klik or so. Only then did they loosen up enough that I could get enough wriggle room to move to the side so that I could stare up at both of them.

They were venting hard, and both seemed to have their attention split between watching me, and staring towards the counter where the mech they threatened was milling about. "Fragger." Sunny practically hissed, before he looked down at me and his expression softened a bit. "He won't be bothering you again."

"You're our femme."

I would've made a comment about the fact that I'd never see that mech again, but I opted not to bother.

There were more important things to worry about... like the mission we'd have to complete in a few joors.

* * *

 **(Sides' POV- That night 01:55 joors)**

It was almost time…

We were perched on a high cliff, overlooking the Quantum 7 mine. It wasn't too far off, and we'd be able to get to it relatively quickly if we really moved, but for now Athena wanted to get a good look at what was going on down there.

It was strange to see her crouched down, holding that massive sniper rifle in her too small servos as she looked down the scope to get a better idea of what was going on. So far she'd been silent, and we'd just been watching her the entire time.

But then she tensed, door wings twitching minutely. "They're making their move."

I slid forward, focusing my optical sensors to the max so that I could see as well. Not as well as she could with the aid of her rifle and increased optical sensors, but I was still able to make out half a dozen or so mechs approaching the mine, one of which was dragging a trailer behind him in alt mode.

"Only six… we can take them."

"Not unless you want to be picked off before you can even get close enough to share space with them."

I looked at her. "What?"

She gestured at several overhangs that were overlooking the mine. "They have snipers stationed on those plateaus. I count three."

Sure enough, when I looked at where she was pointing, I could barely make out several frames laying against the rocky surfaces. Luckily we were in a spot that allowed us to see them, but made it harder for them to get a good look at us.

"What do we do about them? Drop down on them from above and take 'em out?"

She turned to look at me skeptically. "Do we really have time to waste so that you two can climb up onto each perch to get the drop on them?"

"Got a better idea?" Sunny challenged her.

"Yes I do. We'll wait until the mechs make their way into the mine, then I'll pick them off. They're in plain sight from up here… I can get 'em. When I take 'em out you two can move down and get in position for an ambush, while I provide support from up here. Sound good?"

We nodded. "Yeah."

She shifted, bringing her gun back up to line her optic up with the sight, and then she slowly moved the barrel in a wide arc. It took me a moment to realize with a start that she was lining up her targets so that she could take them all down in quick succession.

We just watched her almost swaying systematically from side to side, almost like she was in a trance. She was so focused on what she was doing I almost expected her not to be paying attention to the mechs who were supposed to be preparing to enter the mine. The only warning we had that told me I was wrong was a brief tensing of her wings, and then she snapped towards the left and quickly fired off a silenced round.

I watched as she quickly turned and fired off another round off directly ahead of us, and then she spun to the right and fired off one more round.

Afterwards she slowly lowered her rifle and turned towards us. "Snipers are taken care of."

I gaped at her… That only took like five astroseconds. "Ok… So do we move now?"

She nodded. "Yes. I took care of the snipers, and the main group already moved into the mine so you two move on down, I'll provide covering fire from up here. Keep the comm channels open ok?"

"Got it. You just be careful up here. Keep an optic open in case they have more lackeys hanging around."

"I will."

We paused briefly, both of us staring at her longingly… I knew that we should be focusing on the mission, and we would… but I couldn't help the urge to kiss her goodbye like we normally did before we left for work, or to do something. It'd been a few days since she'd let us do more than touch her in passing…

"You two need to get down there." She prompted us.

I felt myself twitch incessantly, and I gave into the urge to pull her into me and sweep her up in a chaste, but intense kiss. After a few astroseconds I pulled away and squeezed her around the waist. "We'll be back soon."

"Ok." She muttered breathlessly.

I finally let her go, and Sunny quickly pulled her in for an equally intense kiss. She didn't seem to be fighting us all that hard at the moment, but I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

He let her go and turned towards me. "Come on Sides, we need to get into position."

I nodded, and together we made our way down onto ground level. We'd already decided to hide out behind a rocky outcropping near the entrance of the mine, so we quickly ducked down behind it and waited.

For almost a joor nothing happened. Then the sound of ped steps echoing from the entrance of the cave started up and we tensed as they drew closer.

 **:Let us know when you have a visual Princess.:**

She didn't respond for a few moments, but I didn't want to chance peeking over the rocks to see if the raiders were coming out of the mine. If I did it might blow our cover, and that would defeat the entire purpose of setting up an ambush.

Peds stomped passed our hiding spot, and then the sound of somebot transforming went off from close by.

 **:The first few just exited the mine with some crates.:**

 **:How many?:**

 **:Four. I'll wait for the other two, then I'll open fire. When I do that you two cut the rest down.:**

We waited for the signal, and it came after only another three kliks or so. It was dead silent beside the sound of peds clomping around nearby, and the only thing that told us that she'd struck was the sound of a frame hitting the ground.

All pit broke loose after that, because we chose that moment to engage our wrist blades and throw ourselves out of our hiding spot. The group had scattered already, leaving the helm-less mech laying near the trailer as they took off in opposite directions.

We were faster though, closing in on the two closest to us and quickly dispatching them effortlessly. I spun around and cleaved another in half at the waist, moving towards the coal colored Kaonian mech that Athena had trailed to the meeting with these ones immediately afterwards. Before I could even take more than a few steps towards him a bullet suddenly impacted his helm and literally blew it to pieces.

I spun around as Sunny finished off the last of the raiders, optics landing on Athena crouched on the plateau where we'd left her. She dropped her weapon and nodded at me, before turning and disappearing from sight. Knowing her, she was probably coming down to tend to any of the inured miners.

"Well that was boring…" Sunny grumbled sourly.

"Well they're just raiders Sides. It wasn't like they were actually going to be a challenge for us."

"True. I was just hoping for a little more excitement on this one I guess." I sighed tiredly. There were never any assignments that challenged us anymore!

 **:Really Sides? Complaining that an assignment was too easy? You could've somehow got hurt you know.:** Athena pointed out.

 **:Yeah but it's still boooring! I want to have a mission that actually challenges me! This was as lame as patrol!:**

She sighed in exasperation. **:Sides seriously-!:**

The sudden blast of a gunshot echoed through the comm channel. I immediately assumed that she'd found a straggler and took care of him, but almost as soon as the thought crossed my processor I heard a crash, followed closely by a feminine cry of pain.

Sunny and I stiffened, fear and a possessive swell of protective rage surging through the bond. We took off towards where she was supposed to be, attempting to reach out to her through the comm link as several more gunshots rang out through the comm channel, causing the feed to become garbled from the sheer volume. It was hard to tell what exactly was going on, and we were more concerned with getting to her at the moment.

The sight that did meet our optics when we came upon her was unexpected. Another mech lay at her peds, frame shredded from the ion blaster that was laying discarded next to her. She was sitting propped up against a rock, leaking profusely from a wound to the junction of her shoulder and chassis, one servo pressed against it to try stopping the flow.

I slid to a stop next to her and dropped down onto my knees, gently prying her servo away so that I could take in the gaping hole. Severed wires were hanging loosely, leaking more energon in steady increments. And if that weren't bad enough, it looked like the gunshot passed all the way through.

I gently eased her forward to confirm for myself that it was the case, and my thoughts were confirmed by the hole through not only her back, but the part where the shot had almost shredded the joint of her wing. "Frag…"

There was also another wound through her thigh that must have damaged her hydraulic system. It was lightly sparking and hissing as the system continued trying to function.

Sunny dropped down next to her and pulled her over so that he could assess her wounds as well. "What the frag happened?"

She vented harshly. "There was another mech… he must've been hiding somewhere close by… one of them probably commed him when things went south… He came up from behind me and shot me."

"You didn't sense the vibrations of his approach?"

"No…"

How could she not have sensed him? A Praxian's door wings were extremely sensitive to sounds, or better put the vibrations that caused them. It was almost impossible to get the drop on one because of that, but somehow this mech had.

I would have pressed the issue, but the sudden crash of thunder had us all looking up at the noxious green clouds that had decided to roll in out of nowhere. The forecast hadn't said scrap about a fragging acid storm!

"For frag's sake!" Sunny cursed as he leaned down and gently picked her up on her uninjured side. "We have to get into the mine before the storm hits. We can hold up there until it passes."

I nodded and stood up to follow him.

"Sides… can you grab Rain for me?"

I hadn't even noticed Athena's prized weapon laying a good distance away from where we had found her, discarded in her scuffle with the mech. "Sure." I turned and jogged over to pluck it up, before turning and running to catch up with both of them.

Together we made our way into the mine and sealed the storm doors shut, before descending deeper into the catacombs that made the place up.

We had to get her wound sanitized and staunched as quickly as possible…

* * *

R&R! Cliffhanger cuz I'm mean! :P


	29. Chapter 29: I Want You To Know Why

I'll be honest, I'm really tempted to just leave the TF fandom and drop all the stuff I have going right now. I don't feel like there's any reason to keep going when it's obvious that people don't like what I write, or how I design my characters. Oh well, I'll think on it, but for now I guess I'll give you guys another chapter. I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I could feel her energon leaking down my arm from the nasty wounds to her frame. The feel of it nearly made me want to go berserk, but there was no point when she'd already killed her attacker. Still, I wish I could bring him back to life just so that I could rip him apart again!

My peds pounded against the floor of the corridor we were in, echoing off of the walls as we made our way deeper into the mine. We found the closest chamber and ducked inside. Short of a few storage crates and tarps there was nothing else present in the room, nothing to lay her on really so I yanked a tarp off of one of the crates and laid her on top of it on the ground.

I knelt down next to her and surveyed the damage one more time. "Give me your medical supplies."

She pulled her kit from subspace and handed it to me.

"I'm not a medic Athena, you're gonna have to tell me what to do."

She stared up at me with surprisingly clear optics. "Your servos are too big to reach in and reconnect the wires in order to stop the leaking, so you'll have to use the silicone spray to completely fill in the hole and that'll stop it for now."

I quickly located the spray she was talking of and started working it into the front of the wound first. It was strange to watch, like watching a layer of the rubbery substance just forming inside of the hole in her body. I worked from the edges where the severed wires were hanging from, then gradually filled it the rest of the way in. Splashes of energon stained the almost clear substance a cloudy blue, but at least the silicone would stop her from leaking to death. But frag it was a pain in the aft to peel out of a wound.

"Prop her up Sides."

He gently eased her forward so that I could repeat the same treatment on the other side of the hole, and not only that. It only took me a klik or so to fill it in, and with that done I pulled back to work on her left thigh as well.

"Uncle is going to have my aft when I get back… That stuff is a glitch to dig out of a bot's internal systems. Funny how something so annoying can save somebot's aft." She murmured.

"It'll keep you from getting a virus too."

"Yeah. Nothing can get passed that stuff…"

I finished working on her leg and put the spray back into her kit. "What next?"

"Take the mesh bandages and wrap up my thigh, then we'll make a sling for my wing and arm. If my wing keeps being moved, it'll cause even more damage to the joint."

"I need your help for this Sides."

"Got it." Together we propped her up, then Sides held her left wing in place so that I could wrap the mesh bandages around it to keep it from moving too much, then I covered the hole in her chassis, before making a sling for her arm. Once that was done I quickly wrapped her leg up as well.

Afterwards I put everything back in her kit and sat down right beside them. "How's the pain? Did you numb your sensor network?"

Sides had her propped up on her good side, leaning against his chassis. She blinked at me lazily. "It's not too bad. I've had worse before."

I grunted. "That's good, but I asked you if you've dulled your sensors down."

"A bit."

"Good. Now do you want to tell me what the pit happened?"

"There must have been a tenth mech that we didn't see hanging farther back. The only thing I can think of is that one of the others must have commed him when they started getting picked off. Maybe he realized that going down there would have been suicidal. I'm not sure. But he somehow got around behind me and shot me."

"But… shouldn't you have picked up on his presence with your door wings Princess? I mean, sensing vibrations, especially from sounds is that they're good for outside of communication."

Her optics drifted off to the side shamefully. "Maybe if they were up to par with most Praxians."

 **(What the frag does that mean?)**

I honestly had no clue myself. **(I don't know. Prowl, Smokescreen, and Bluestreak's wings pick up on even the smallest vibrations. Why would Athena be any different?)**

We didn't really have an answer or thought on that… For all intents and purposes it was almost impossible to get the drop on a Praxian. Jazz still had issues trying to sneak up on Prowl, not that he never could, but sometimes he just couldn't get the drop on his best friend.

Sides shifted, apparently having decided that he was curious enough to ask what she meant by that. "What did you mean by that Princess? Why would your wings be any less sensitive than Prowl's? Or Smokey, or Blue? Is it a genetic thing?"

She shook her helm despondently. "What do you think it means?"

"We have no idea. That's why we just asked you."

For a moment she just continued staring at the wall like she wasn't going to answer us, but then her denta peeked out from behind her lips, clamping down on the lower one with enough force to tear it open. It was easy to see that something about our line of questioning had upset her. Maybe she was low bred like us? It certainly caused enough issues for us growing up.

I laid a servo on her uninjured thigh, prompting her to look up at me with narrowed, pain filled optics. I'd only seen her like this on very few occasions, and I'd since realized that Athena was defensive over a lot of things from her past. This topic was obviously connected somehow, but I had no idea how. "You know that you can talk to us about anything right?"

She looked away again, once more opting to say nothing.

It frustrated me for a moment, but then I remembered the fact that I didn't like speaking of certain things from my past either. I wasn't sociable, or even open to discussing things like that with anybot but Sides. It also reminded me of the fact that, even though we sometimes questioned Athena about her past, we hadn't shared any of ours really. Not outside of the fact that we used to live in Kaon that is.

This had to be a two-way thing. We had to be willing to share things with her as she told us things about herself. Maybe sharing a little bit would make her feel more open to telling us some things?

Sides seemed to agree with my thought. **(I guess it's worth a shot right?)**

Right… It was a good thought… But for some reason, when I tried to actually act on it my vocalizer froze up. I couldn't actually make myself speak for some reason. Well I knew why, because I was worried that if we shared some of our past with her she'd actually be afraid of us. Of me…

I was a monster. When we were Gladiators in the Pits of Kaon I used to enjoy the slaughter. I enjoyed ending lives before my opponent could offline me, and it was all that I lived for outside of Sides for a long time. The feel of energon slipping through my digits, seeping into the joints in my servos, or being splattered against my armor. It used to incite my energon lust so strongly, making me want to lose myself even more to that sadistic part of me that would never go away. Some part of me would always be that way, no matter how hard I tried to fight it or expel it. For so long I'd relied on Sides to keep me from falling under its' influence again, and now in a way I relied on Athena to keep me grounded as well. I didn't want her to see what I really was, and yet it had already happened anyways. She'd seen me in my darkest state of being.

 **(But she's still not running away from you screaming.)**

 **(But she did try and leave right after! You can't tell me that me going berserk had nothing to do with it!)**

 **(Yes I can. Princess isn't scared of you Sunny. She's dealing with issues of her own that we don't know about. She said it herself and I believe her. If she was truly afraid of you she wouldn't have hesitated to leave. She would have been gone by the time we woke up.)**

On top of everything Sides had said, we had to be able to share our pasts with her in order to have the level of trust needed for a mate bond. We'd share emotions, thought, memories, and it was an eternal connection that couldn't be broken. It was the very strongest kind of bond that could exist. I needed to be able to trust her with my darkest secrets. Maybe not all right now, but if sharing some could make her feel more open it couldn't hurt…

I'd never willingly spoke of it to anybot else before… and it was hard to gear myself up for it. But I forced myself to start telling some of our past. "You know Athena… I understand what it's like to be defensive. We all have our reasons, and we keep asking you why, but we've never really told you anything about ourselves. I guess I thought that you'd be afraid if you knew some things, or that maybe you'd rethink staying with us because of certain things…"

From the corner of my optic I saw her stiffen minutely, and it was that movement that made me think that maybe she was thinking more along those lines than Sides or I knew. Maybe she really was rethinking being with us because of the whole berserk episode… and that thought terrified me.

I slid my servo up and cupped her smaller one within my much larger one, giving it a firm squeeze that finally got her to look at me. "Berserker coding or not… I'll never hurt you. I promise. No matter who I am now, or who I used to be."

She stared me straight in the optics. "I know."

"I'm not sure that you do Athena. I really do think that you're afraid of me on some level, and I don't want you to think that you should be."

"I'm not!" She protested. "It's not about-!"

"My berserk rage." I cut her off firmly. "I want you to know why Sides and I are like that."

"You don't have to tell me anything just because you think that I'm afraid of you!"

"It's not only that! We want to make this work Athena! And in order for us to be able to sort these kinds of things out we need to be able to tell each other things… even if we really don't want to. I won't lie, I'm afraid to tell you anything about myself. Mostly because I'm a monster and I know it, but I don't want you to see me that way too. But you deserve to know what I am and the things I've done."

Her mouth fell open like she was going to protest again, only to think better of it and refrain from doing so. I took it as a sign that she would listen to what I was about to say.

"You see Athena, Sides and I grew up in Kaon… but more specifically… the pits."

Just like I expected, her optics widened to the size of saucers. "The pits?" She asked, voice quivering with some powerful emotion.

I nodded. "Yeah… You see, Sides and I were born to a lower class family unit during the last Golden Age. Our Sire was actually a slave bot that labored in the mines, so we had a rough sparklinghood. Even so, our creators took care of us the best that they could even if it was hard for them. Our Sire Sunswipe worked especially hard, while our Carrier Starstreak stayed home to take care of us. But you see, even working all the joors he could, our Sire couldn't make enough to take care of us. So he resorted to… borrowing credits from bots he really shouldn't have. Sides and I didn't realize what that meant at the time, or even that it was happening. All we knew is that we went from having energon once every few solar cycles if we were lucky, to having it every day like other sparklings got to. We weren't wanting for the first time in our lives, but it wasn't without its' drawbacks. Carrier and Sire started fighting all the time about things we didn't understand at the time, and things started to dissolve at home. They rarely wanted anything to do with each other, and Carrier spent most of her time with us instead." I sighed as the memories of that time came rushing back… Compared to everything else we'd gone through it wasn't that bad… "But then one day… some mechs broke into our apartment unit… Sire tried to talk them out of hurting us, I remember him saying things about being able to pay the credits back later, but the mechs wouldn't listen. They killed our creators in front of us… first Sire, then they came after Carrier and gunned her down while she was trying to hide us in the closet."

She cupped her good servo over her mouth as coolant pooled in her optics, but she didn't say anything. That was probably a good thing…

"That's how Sides and I were taken into the slave trade, and one of the first things the slave traders do is perform a system scan to identify any peculiarities in coding, any modifications, or any glitches a bot may have. When they performed a system scan on Sides and I… they discovered that we had a rare type of programming that came from recessive coding… It was our berserker coding… One of our creators carried it as a recessive part of their CNA, and it manifested fully in our coding, and for that reason instead of being sold as laborers, or pleasuremechs, we were sold to the pits."

Sides shifted, moving her so that she was laying with her back pressed against his chassis, and her lower half laying between his legs, while he gently wrapped his right arm over the uninjured part of her chassis. "You know… before we ended up in our first fight we didn't even know we had it… It wasn't until I almost got killed in that match that Sunny actually lost control for the first time. All I can recall is seeing that blade getting ready to impale my spark chamber, then I felt this blinding rage and fear… he'd succumbed for the first time, and our bond caused me to get pulled under with him. The next thing I knew we were both standing over the remains of the older mechling who had been trying to kill us. We'd ripped him apart without even realizing what was happening. It was… terrifying."

"That's why we were such popular Gladiators Athena, because we lost control and became these unstoppable killing machines. Bots knew that no matter the odds we'd somehow pull through because of our berserker coding. We became mindless murdering machines, we had no inhibitions, no doubts, and our strength and speed increased exponentially whenever it was activated. Sometimes they gave us matches that we would have no way of surviving without it, just so that they could force us to resort to succumbing to it again. They called us the Terror Twins because of it."

"We were just a spectacle Princess. Commodities that were only valuable because of how many credits we could bring in… It was all that we were good for." Sides trailed off shamefully.

"We were just murderers… it was all we could do to survive… And to do that, we learned to embrace our berserker coding… It helped keep us alive, but now… it's made you afraid of us. Of me…" I finished quietly.

For a moment it was dead silent, not one of us moving or even blinking. Sides and I were too busy staring at Athena, whose optics were now overflowing with coolant that she was struggling not to let fall. She surprised me when she slid forward and reached out with the servo she'd previously been cupping her mouth with, using it to cup my cheek as she tried to scoot closer to me.

I had to gently pick her up and situate her on my lap since she couldn't move much on her own at the moment. Gently cradling her sideways on my lap so that we could look each other in the optics, and once she was situated she resumed stroking my cheek.

Coolant slowly trickled from her optics, slipping down into her mouth when she opened it and spoke next. "I know that I've said this before, but now I feel like I need to say it again: I am not afraid of you because of your berserker coding. I'm not afraid that you'll hurt me when you're like that. This whole mess I created was not because of that."

"Then why…?"

She broke our little staring match and looked down at her lap shamefully. "I guess it's because there are things that I'm just as ashamed of… and I didn't want to talk about them. But then what almost happened the other day made me think about some of it again… and I felt… like you'd be disgusted by me."

"Disgusted by you? I don't know why you would even think that!"

She looked back up at me with optics so filled with pain and shame it actually startled me. "Because I… that's… happened to me before…"

The vagueness of that response confused me a bit. "What's happened to you before?"

She averted her gaze downwards again. "What you protected me from the other day."

I tensed as what she was saying finally registered… Somebot had… raped her before?!

Sides seemed to have realized what she was insinuating as well, because he scooted over and carefully pressed himself against her injured side. "Oh Princess… Now we understand why you were acting like this… but you really shouldn't have felt the need to. We would never judge you for something like that. We already told you that we wouldn't have judged you if that mech had succeeded in assaulting you the other day, and this is no different."

I slid a servo under her chin and tilted her helm back so that I could look into her optics again. "It doesn't change how we see you. You should know that, and that you can talk to us about it whenever you need to."

She sniffled. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

I cradled her face against my throat cables. "Ok. We won't make you."

In a strange twist her behavior made sense to me now though. The same way some of our past was shameful, Athena's was as well. I didn't like talking about my experiences, and neither did she. I was worried that she would judge me, and she was afraid that we would judge her… It all made sense now… But it changed nothing about how we felt about her…

"You know we love you right?" I murmured into her audio.

She nodded. "Mm hmm…"

"Good. Never doubt that."

Never…

It got quiet after that for a few kliks… then Sides broke it by pulling back with wide optics. "Ok I know this is a bad time to point this out but we forgot to go check on the miners."

I blinked… Oh slag!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

When I came to I was laying on my right side, cushioned by something soft. Not too much, but enough that the hard ground wasn't quite so unrelenting. I couldn't really remember what had happened prior to me falling into recharge, save for me telling the twins one small detail among a sea of horrible things that I'd been through.

They hadn't judged me for it though. I was both relieved, and surprised by that fact…

I shook those thoughts off, opening my optics as I yawned sleepily. The twins were sitting nearby, Sides playing with his little servo-held gaming system, and Sunny had a sketchbook in his lap and was furiously scribbling across the page with a charcoal pencil.

Both looked up because of the small squeak I made when I yawned. Sides put his gaming device down and crawled the short distance from where they were propped against the wall, to stop near my little recharge pallet. "Good morning Princess. How are you feeling?"

Now that he mentioned it my chassis, wing, and leg were throbbing. But I'd had far worse before. "I'm ok."

He helped me sit up, then let me lean against him. "Storm's still raging at the moment…"

Almost as soon as he said that a loud crash of thunder shook the cavern we were in. Even though my wings weren't as susceptible to vibrations they still caused me some discomfort when they resonated over my sensors. I winced, keening softly when my damaged wing gave a more intense throb.

Sunny came over and plopped down on my other side. "Wing hurt?"

"Yes…"

"I figured. That reminds me… we got off topic and you never explained why your wings don't work the way they should."

Oh that… How best to explain that constant abuse of them had caused the neural network to become permanently damaged? Even Uncle Ratchet couldn't fully repair them, since they had been left to heal from being seriously maimed too many times and the neural network was irrevocably damaged. There was nothing that could be done to fix them.

They'd told me things about themselves that were very painful for them to recall, as had I to a lesser degree. I suppose I could at least give them some sort of explanation. "Well… I told you that I was abused as a sparkling. My wings were a favorite target as well, and they were left to heal on their own after being ripped out of their joints so many times that due to my underdeveloped repair systems it caused them to become permanently damaged from it. Because of that they're not nearly as sensitive as they should be. Not that they're completely useless, but I should be able to pick up a much wider range of vibrations at lower frequencies than I am."

A low pitched growl vibrated out from both of their chassis. "One of these days I want to know who did that to you, and if they're still alive. If they are I'm going to hunt them down and maim them to death." Sunny snarled.

"I haven't seen them in a very long time... I have no idea if they're still alive." Not that it made me any less paranoid about the fact that they could be. Luckily I hadn't seen them since… the day they left me for dead… Then again that was a good thing.

"Frag… and here I wanted to show them what having the most sensitive parts of their anatomy ripped out feels like." He continued in a menacing tone.

I laid my one usable servo on his arm to calm him. "It's ok. There's no reason to get so worked up over something that you can't change. It's in the past." I said it more to placate him than to make myself feel better. I doubted that I'd ever get over the things that tormented me completely.

"The pit I can't get worked up over it! I can damn well get slagged off about the fact that some fragger hurt my femme!"

It was obvious that there was no talking him out of being slagged off, even if it would do no good. I guess I couldn't blame him. I got angry about it myself. Still we had other things to worry about. "How are the miners? Are any of them injured?"

Sides had gone to find them last night, before I had fallen into recharge. But by the time he came back I must have been out, because I couldn't recall his actual return.

The mech in question nodded. "Yeah they're all fine. None of them sustained anything more than minor scuffs or dents. They're holed up in the main chamber at present."

"Ok. I should still go check them though." I tried pushing myself up, but I didn't get more than a micron before servos were pushing me back down.

"You are not to move a micron femme! Sides just told you that they were all fine so there's no need to strain your injuries so that you can go down there and look them over. They're ok! Now you on the other hand need to keep that pretty little aft planted right where it is, because you are hurt!" Sunny scolded me.

A tired sigh escaped me as I leaned back to get as comfortable as I could while pressed against the wall. I would've been content to just sit there, but my fuel tanks suddenly rumbled and reminded me that I needed to top off. Since I was injured I guess that means that I got medical grade for the next few days…

I quickly pulled a cube out from my subspace and brought it up so that I could try biting the top off since my other servo was useless. In doing so it ended up slipping from my grasp to land on the ground with a clatter.

Sides picked it up for me too fast for me to even try reaching for it, his servos making quick work of the top before he handed it back to me. "Here you go Princess."

"Thank you Sides."

Both scooted up flush against my sides, sitting there in uncharacteristic, for Sides that is, silence. I had a feeling that they were thinking over what I said last night, and all that it could possibly mean. I'd actually told them very little, and that was all I could muster for now. It was still too painful to speak of.

I was so distracted in my thoughts that I jolted when Sides next spoke. "Princess?"

"Yes?"

"Are we okay now? I mean, all of us… this relationship? Are you still happy with us?"

I stared up at him, guilt and regret welling up in my spark. I'd treated them both so badly. "Sides I was never unhappy with you. You two… Primus I love you both so much that I can't even comprehend it sometimes. So please don't think that my idiocy was a result of me not being happy with you. I was just being stupid."

"You weren't being stupid." He argued.

I just stared at him with a deadpan look. "Sides I was being stupid."

Sunny grunted. "You weren't being stupid… much. I will say that you should've just talked to us about it before making such a rash decision. But as long as you promise not to do it again I can forgive and let it go."

My optics drifted up over his tense shoulders, then finally to lock with the intense stare he was giving me. For all intents and purposes it was screaming, _**'tell me right here and now that you'll never do something like that to us again'.**_

"I promise."

His lips tugged up at the corners in an uncharacteristic and tentative smile. "Good, because we'll always chase you down and drag you back home."

"Should I be intimidated by that statement?"

"Very."

I snorted, before turning back to the energon that I wasn't very happy to be drinking. Medical grade was good for a bot, but it was some of the nastiest tasting stuff I'd ever consumed. Too bad Uncle Ratchet would have my aft for not drinking it when I was injured, otherwise I might be tempted to just say screw it and drink regular mid-grade.

Instead I slowly sipped at it, nearly cringing at the strong tang of something akin to penny, or maybe some of the early forms of synthesized energon. Now that was some nasty stuff. Even this was marginally better than that stuff.

"Why can't somebot add some flavoring to this stuff? For frag's sake! Even after drinking it who knows how many times, the taste still kills me!" I grumbled sourly.

Sides laughed. "Knowing Ratchet he'd give some sort of explanation about how preservatives are in no way good for boosting a bot's self-repair systems. Then I'd get wrenched for saying that not being able to drink it isn't good for boosting a bot's self-repair systems. Ole Hatchet never did do well with my form of logic."

I took another drink and cringed hard enough that I almost choked. "Think that I can get away with mixing some rust spice into this sucker?"

"What's he gonna do after you've already processed it? Not a damn thing… so I say go for it Princess."

"Got a spice packet?"

He rummaged around in his subspace before pulling out the aforementioned item to hand to me. "Yup!"

I took it and propped the cube up on my knee, and in doing so it almost toppled over so Sunny quickly steadied it so that it didn't end up getting spilled. He held it up so that I could tear the spice packet open with my denta, then I quickly poured the contents into the cube.

We didn't really have anything to stir it in with so Sunny took out a small combat knife and used that to slosh the contents around a bit, before he handed the cube back to me. "Hope it's a little more tolerable now."

I took it and brought it up to sniff at… Smelled alright… like rust spice and… med-grade… A little bit better…

I slowly brought it up and took the first sip…

And actually spat it back out! Oh Primus rust spice and med-grade did not meld well together! It tasted even worse than before, and it burned my throat like no tomorrow! I coughed, gagging violently as I actually reared back and chucked the damn cube against the far wall. "UGH! THAT'S FRIGGIN' DISGUSTING!"

One of them started patting my back gently. "That bad?" Sides guessed, so I guess it was him.

I nodded. "UGH! IT BURNS! IT BURNS! GAH! IT'S WORSE THAN EARLY STAGE SYNTHESIZED SCRAP! I JUST RUINED RUST SPICE FOR MYSELF!"

Due to the position I ended up in I was only able to see Sunny staring at me with an optic ridge raised in obvious question. "Athena it can't be that bad."

"Nothing can be as bad as the early synthesized stuff. I swear that could kill you."

I glared at them, speaking between harsh coughs. "You two try some and tell me that it's not that bad!"

"Nah, I'm good." Sides chirped cheerfully.

"No way."

"Afts." I muttered.

They just laughed at me, and then Sunny swept me up into a fierce yet chaste kiss. A grunt escaped him when Sides yanked me away to repeat the same action. When he pulled back he was grinning from audio to audio. "You know what I'm looking forward to?"

I felt like humoring him at the moment. "What?"

He waggled his optic ridges at me suggestively. "All the make-up interface we're going to be doing after we get back to New Iacon…"

"Pervert."

* * *

The next time I came to from recharge it was to the loud sound of helicopter blades whirring from somewhere nearby. I felt myself being carried against a broad chassis, and when I opened my optics I caught a flash of gold paint.

Blue optics slid down to my face, framed by a familiar handsome face plate. "Storm stopped. We commed Prime for an airlift back to New Iacon since we knew Ratchet would have our afts for letting some other medic treat you." He answered my unspoken question.

"Oh…"

"Go back to recharge."

I was so tired that I didn't even want to fight back or argue with him. "Ok…"

The next time I woke, we would be back in New Iacon.

Now if only that didn't mean that I would have to face an angry Uncle, worried creators, and the teasing Flareup would give me for getting shot again…

Joy…

* * *

R&R!


	30. Chapter 30: WHAT ARE YOU WEARING!

Ok so the last few chapters literally kicked my ass when I was writing them. I've never struggled so hard with this story as I did the last week or so when I was writing them. This one is going on a lighter note thankfully so that's a good thing! Anyways big things are going to be happening from here on out! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! Lemons in this chapter! You have been warned! Thanks to everyone who was so encouraging after my last update! Oh and I posted another twins/OC fic called Wild Spark. I personally think it's gonna be really funny!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

The last few days of my life were hectic that was for sure. Between being airlifted back to New Iacon, to being nonstop lectured by Uncle Ratchet about how I was supposed to be smart enough not to be injured in such a way. He glitched the entire time he was repairing my chassis, wing, and hydraulic system, then he belted me with a wrench for being reckless.

Afterwards I got lectured by Danni and Cee for being reckless as well, in between them hugging me senseless, and in turn slagging Uncle off because they were jostling me when I was supposed to be laying still. Opi had to shoo them both off before they got wrenched, and then he sat down beside my berth and inquired as to whether I was okay. We spent some time talking peacefully, which I had been thankful for honestly.

The twins stayed close by as well, camping out in the med bay much to Uncle's aggravation. They'd stayed with me overnight and hadn't left until I was released the next day. I don't know what they expected to have happen after something like that, but it most definitely wasn't for Cee, Flareup, and Danni to accompany us back home, where the three proceeded to play house nurse for the day.

I could tell that having them racing around the house screaming, carrying on in Flareup's case, and all around just being nuisances was aggravating to the twins. Sunny especially took to standing in a corner, seething and brooding, watching them run in and out of our room with a death glare resting in his optics.

Sides for his part took it much better, but it was clear that he wanted to take care of me on his own. He didn't seem to appreciate being shoved aside when he was trying to change my bandages, or bring me energon, so that they could do it instead.

It eventually got so bad that they both lost it and threw the three out of the housing unit and locked the place down. At least they both calmed down after that, and the next few days had gone by in relative peace…

Somewhat, but I was going stark raving mad from being confined to the berth almost exclusively. I tried sneaking out a few times, but each time I wasn't able to get farther than one step into the hall before one of them caught on and were there in a flash to guide me right back to the berth.

Which is where I was right now… confined to the berth… again…

It was so boooooring…

Unfortunately, Sunny had to work today, so Sides and I were home alone. I'd expected him to stay in the room with me for the most part, but he had only poked his helm in a few times so far. I had the feeling that he was up to something. What I wasn't sure though.

It was probably a good thing that Sunny was going to be coming home soon… He'd come and keep me company…

I sighed despondently, shifting against the mountain of pillows I was laying against. The thermal blanket was laying up to my underarms, and I'd long since moved so that my arms were laying on top of it. I should probably be thankful that I could move both arms now, but thanks to the damage done to my wing my balance was still being affected a little. Hence why I was berth-ridden still.

The door to the berthroom suddenly slid open and I looked up to see something… strange…

My optics bugged out when they landed on Sides wearing some sort of white cloth covering over his armor, it wrapped around his upper arms and looked for all the world like he was wearing cloth balloons around his shoulders, then it went down and hugged his waist, and it looked as if a strange knot was tied around the back and stuck out at the sides… before flaring out at the thighs.

"Sides… what are you wearing?"

He gave me his infamous stupid grin as Sunny referred to it, cocking his helm and in doing so my attention was drawn to the little circle cloth thing with a little red cross on it that was sitting atop it. How was that even staying up there?! "That's Nurse Sideswipe to you Princess!"

I blinked at him dumbly. "Nurse Sideswipe?"

"Yup! I'm gonna take real good care of you Princess! Now let's get those bandages changed!"

I was absolutely shell-shocked right now… So much so that I just nodded dumbly and allowed him to prop me up so that he could cut the old mesh bandages off of my bare chassis. It only took him a moment to do so, and then he pulled a roll of new mesh bandages from his subspace, along with some disinfectant which he quickly rubbed over the almost healed wounds. They were still somewhat tender, and he was careful not to put too much pressure on them while he worked.

Once he was finished disinfecting it he quickly wrapped it up in the bandages, being careful to avoid touching the still healing joint of my wing as he wrapped them around my shoulder, then across my chest plates before tying it into a knot under my right arm.

"There! That should hold well enough for now!"

I nodded dumbly. "Um, Sides? Why are you wearing that thing?"

He stood up and made a show of beating imaginary dust off of his… leg thingy. "That's Nurse Sideswipe to you Princess! As for why I'm wearing this? Simple! Because it's my Nurse outfit!"

"Did you stick your face in Sparky's cage and let him zap you again?"

"Nooooooooo!"

"Then why are you wearing that? You could've just done all these things without it."

He grinned. "But that wouldn't have been as fun Princess!"

Fun…?

"I'm gonna go get your energon for you." With that he turned and walked out, the long tails of the knot he had tied around his back swishing with each step he took.

Ok something was wrong with him right now… Maybe I should comm Sunny to see where he was? I think he needed to have a talk with his twin…

 **:Sunny?:**

It took him a moment to answer me. **:Yeah? I'm on my way home now. Are you alright?:**

 **:Yes… But, um, I think there's something wrong with Sides... He's being… weird...:** I trailed off when the mech in question came back in with several energon cubes sitting atop a tray that he sat down on the nightstand.

"Here you are Princess!"

 **:How is he being weird? And you should be used to him doing weird stuff by now.:**

I continued watching Sides as he got up and started flitting around the room, dusting things, and cleaning up the mess he'd made when changing my bandages a while ago… **:Yes I know, but he's being weirder than normal right now…:**

 **:Do I want to know…?:**

 **:I'm not sure that you do…:**

 **:I'll be there in a few kliks. Just try and put up with him until I get there.:**

So for the next breem or so I ended up watching Sides dance around the room, twirling in circles and in doing so whipping up the cloth that was resting around his legs while he dusted, fluffed my pillows, tucked me in, and then…

BRANDISHED AN ENORMOUS FRAGGING SYRINGE FROM HIS SUBSPACE!

"Sides what are you doing with that?!" I yelped fearfully.

"You need your booster shot Princess!"

I scrambled away from him and scurried down over onto the floor on the other side of the berth, peeking up at him as he cradled the fragging thing in both servos. "SIDES GET AWAY FROM ME WITH THAT THING!"

He stalked around the side of the berth, forcing me to have to scurry in the opposite direction to get away from him. "Princess you need your shot! Now c'mere!"

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"Princess…"

I dashed around the berth as he closed in on me, sprinting out the door and down the stairs towards the living room while screaming. At the same time I went racing passed the prep room Sunny came in through the entryway. "Athena?"

I ducked behind the couch as Sides came racing into the living room with the syringe still held firmly in his grasp. Sunny gaped at him as he ran passed screaming, "C'mon now Princess! You need your get better soon boo-boo shot!"

"NO! NOOOOO! SUNNY MAKE HIM STOOOOOOOP!"

Luckily for me, Sunny snapped out of his blank staring and grabbed Sides by the scruff of his cloth armor thing. "Sides what the frag are you doing?!"

"Trying to give Princess her booster shot."

"She doesn't need a booster shot and you know it! Now put that thing away and take that horrible costume off! Primus you're emasculating yourself right now!"

Sides pouted. "Mean…"

Sunny just released him and stood there with his arms crossed over his chassis, tapping his ped impatiently as Sides actually listened and took the costume off. Afterwards he snatched it and the syringe away from him and stuffed them into his subspace, before he came over and guided me to sit on the couch. "Now I know why you were so weirded out earlier." He muttered.

"He was trying to stick me with that thing!"

Sides pouted. "You needed a boo-boo shot Princess!"

"No I don't! You don't even have the medical training or knowledge to be able to make such a decision Sides! What was in that thing anyways?!"

"Nanite booster."

I nearly face palmed… "Sides that much would've thrown my systems into overdrive! Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Nope! I wasn't actually going to poke you with it! I just felt like being kinky!"

"Kinky?! How was any of that kinky?!"

He shrugged. "I like role playing."

"Role playing? What the pit is that?!"

Sunny turned and shook his helm at me. "Don't ask. You don't want to know." When Sides went to explain it he whipped around and pinned him with a terrifying glare. "If you know what's good for you you'll keep your mouth shut! She doesn't need to know about your weird fantasies!"

"My fantasies are not weird."

"You just dressed yourself up in a nurse's costume and chased Athena with a giant syringe! That's about as weird as it gets!"

Sides just plopped himself down on my other side, tossing an arm around my shoulders so that he could tug me into his lap. "Ok so it was a little weird but hey, I like trying new things! Besides, I think I'd much rather see Athena wearing a skimpy nurse outfit… with no armor on underneath it…"

"I am not wearing that thing!" I immediately shot him down.

He pouted. "Please…? Pretty please Princess? We can cut it up and make it so that it barely covers all the important bits, and then Sunny and I can play the role of your naughty little berth-ridden patients... You can strap us down and administer your own kinky version of first aid…"

"No."

He leaned down into my face and pouted at me, optics widening and filling with a sickening amount of pleading and hope… "Pretty please my beautiful Goddess?"

"Sides…"

"Can we just see what you look like in it? I can fix it up real nice for you, and you can model it for us."

Heat slowly crept up into my cheeks and I averted my gaze so that I didn't have to look at him. If I continued my resolve would keep waivering and he'd somehow talk me into it… The thought of wearing a skimpy costume was just… ugh…

It didn't seem like he was taking the hint very well, because he scooted closer and pressed his cheek against mine, rubbing it up and down in an affectionate nuzzle. "My beautiful Goddess…" He purred deeply. "So beautiful… and sweet… and funny. I'd love to see how adorable you look dressed up as our personal nurse."

"Sides… no!"

"If you do I'll take you out to do whatever you want after Ratchet says you're cleared for duty! We can go to the movies, or the park, or out to dinner, or wherever you wanna go! We can go do anything you want!"

"But Sides… if I wear a skimpy outfit you two are going to jump me and ravage me! If that happens Uncle Ratchet is going to have my aft for letting it happen! He'll lecture me about recovering responsibly! I don't want to get wrenched when I go in for a checkup tomorrow!"

"It's not like he's going to check your valve! And it isn't like that's damaged either! It's perfectly usable Princess!"

"I know that…"

He knelt in front of me and slid around so that I could clearly see him pouting up at me still. "Please? Pretty please? I'll keep my end of the bargain if you do it, and I'm sure that Sunny wouldn't mind seeing you in it either."

I looked over at the mech in question and he shrugged. "If you want to, I wouldn't mind seeing you wearing it."

"But it's too big, and I have no idea how to fix it!"

"I can fix it for you!" Sides chirped cheerfully. He stood and held his servo out for Sunny to hand the object over, and once he did Sides turned and disappeared upstairs.

Sunny turned towards me once he was gone. "You do know he's going to make it as skimpy as possible right?"

I sighed. "Yes I do… Maybe I should feign being in pain and go to berth?"

"I HEARD THAT! NO RENEGING ON OUR DEAL ATI!" Sides yelled from upstairs.

Frag…

"Well if it makes you feel any better we've already seen all of you, and you did walk around the house naked all day that time when you shackled Sides and I together. So you really shouldn't be embarrassed about wearing it… no matter what he does to it."

Of course… he had to remind me of that…

Jerk…

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

I could hardly contain my excitement! Athena was upstairs changing into the masterpiece I had created and soon I'd get to see what it looked like on her! Oh Primus I was going to love every fragging astrosecond of what was about to occur!

I was bouncing up and down like all the times I actually did stick my digit in a power outlet!

"Sides can you stop bouncing around like a more hyped up version of Frenzy? Primus! I've never seen you so excited before!"

"You can't tell me that you're not excited too!"

He grunted. "I am, but I have better control than you! Besides, it's not like you could've done something that amazing with that costume."

I grinned from audio to audio just thinking about what I'd actually done to it. "Oh you're going to be surprised…"

"SIDES! YOU DID NOT!" Athena screeched from upstairs.

We both looked towards the stairs as my grin widened even further. "OH I DID PRINCESS! AND YOU STILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH WITH THIS! YOU PROMISED!"

"I HATE YOU RIGHT NOW!" She yelled back.

"She doesn't hate me…"

Sunny was too busy staring at the stairs still. "What the frag did you do to that costume Sides?"

"Just wait and see…"

He turned back towards me with an optic ridge raised. "Is this going to emotionally scar her forever?"

"No. But it may cause us to permanently pressurize for the rest of our lives."

Now my twin looked intrigued… "We'll see about that."

We waited for close to a breem with no sign of her actually coming back down, and I actually got to the point that I was worried she might chicken out, but then I heard the sound of the wash rack door opening and closing. Then the sounds of her peds clacking across the hallway floor started up half a klik later.

I looked towards the entryway and my jaw actually dropped at what I saw… Damn I was good!

Sunny looked over right after I did, and his vents actually stuttered as he gave a startled intake through them. "Primus…"

"I hate you right now Sides." Athena pouted.

"Uh huh…" I murmured as my optics first took in the cute little nurse hat sitting between her chevron, then they drifted down over the almost nonexistent chest covering that was secured by a small bow on the upper swell of her chest plates that tapered down in two thin straps at her sides, then wrapped around her valve and aft in a tight bow, yet didn't actually cover much of anything really. And the rest was completely bare save for the mesh bandages still covering a section of her chest plates... "Turn around…"

She huffed moodily, then turned around and exposed her backside which was only covered by a thin strap of cloth that wrapped around the space between her wings but not too close to the still healing joint, then the two strips that came down and wrapped around the curves of her aft, but left the majority of it exposed.

I groaned with want. "Oh that's beautiful…"

"You two are such perverts!" She stammered in embarrassment.

"Uh huh… C'mere Princess."

She slowly turned and made her way over to slide her servo into my outstretched one, allowing me to gently pull her down onto my lap where I wrapped my arms around behind her and slid my servos over her aft. I drew lazy patterns on her exposed protoform, trailing a digit up the supple dip that trailed up from her aft to her lower back. Our optics met as I leaned down and pressed my fore-helm against hers. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I've never seen a more beautiful femme in my entire life…" I told her honestly. To me she was absolutely gorgeous, beyond perfect even. Maybe it was just because she was our true sparkmate, but whatever it was in our optics she was beyond compare.

She ducked her helm shyly. "Sure you have… I bet you've had plenty of femmes who were prettier than me."

I tilted her helm back so that I could try meeting her optics, but she had them averted downwards still. So I gently trailed the pads of my digits over the dusting of blue on her cheeks. "No we haven't."

Her servos slid up over the back of mine as her optics finally drifted up to lock with mine again, the blush on her cheeks seeming to intensify because of my intense stare. "Shameless flirt."

"What's so bad about me telling the truth?" Even as I asked my arms tightened, bringing her flush against me. I loved the way her blush intensified because of what I said, becoming a deep sapphire color as her face scrunched up cutely.

The last of my control disappeared because of the look she wore, and I leaned down and the rest of the way and captured her lips with mine. I started slow and gentle, just simply moving my lips over her soft ones until she actually pressed herself closer all on her own and I took the chance to slip my glossa against her full lower lip, which in turn had her sliding hers out to gently run it over mine.

My sensor network surged with a jolt of pleasure that resonated throughout my entire frame. In response, I surged forward and shoved my glossa passed her lips, tangling it with hers as it was shoved back inside of her cavern. She jolted back in surprise, and her servos shot up to grasp at my shoulders as she shifted to get more comfortable and in doing so she rubbed her scarcely covered valve over my sodpiece, causing a more intense surge to rack my frame.

I pulled back with a needy groan. "I think it's time to take our armor off. Wanna help us?"

She nodded wordlessly, then she slowly crawled off of my lap so that she was between Sunny and I, giving me an amazing view of her assets. It took her an astrosecond to get situated, and when she did she turned back towards me and trailed her small servos over my shoulders so that they could latch onto the catches and free me from its' constricting presence piece by piece.

She made quick work of each bit, slowly exposing every part of my bare protoform. Her clawed digit tips trailed down into the creases that made up my joints, the dips in my abdomen, and then over the sensitive bundle of cables and wires that made up my interface array. I'd already pressurized so she was able to slip her servos over the length of my spike, and every so often she'd dip her claws between the pulsating silver cables that made up my most intimate area.

She leaned down briefly to press a kiss against the tip, before pulling away to turn and repeat her previous actions on Sunny. It only took her a klik or two to strip him down, the same raging blush present on her features that made her look so damn adorable. I mean here she was stripping us naked and she was still blushing about it, which I personally found beyond cute.

After she finished stripping Sunny she sat up between us and looked back and forth at us like she was lost. "Um, what should I do now?"

"Well you could administer first aid to my spike Princess… Sparky keeps shocking me down there." I pouted.

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"You know how. Don't tell me that you haven't given Sunny some loving down there!"

Her optics widened as realization dawned in them. "Oh… that…"

I nodded, grinning widely. "Mm hmm… You haven't given me that yet Princess and I don't think that's very fair."

She ducked her helm shyly. "I guess not…"

My optics stayed glued to her as she slowly crawled towards me, only to suddenly jerk back with a hiss when she put too much weight on her left arm. Frag… I actually forgot about her shoulder and chassis being damaged!

"Let me see." Sunny was instantly there, pushing the bandages aside so that he could check to make sure she hadn't split the weld Ratchet had done.

"It's fine. I just can't put much weight on it yet."

"Sorry Princess. I wasn't even thinking about that when I asked you to do this for me."

Much to our surprise she waved me off. "It's ok Sides… I promise that I'll do it as soon as my shoulder is healed ok?"

I nodded. "Ok Princess. For now, I guess Sunny and I should take care of you huh?"

"If you want."

I reached for her and gently pulled her back into my lap. "Of course we do. But first we need to remove this…" I fingered at the bows holding her costume in place, taking the one between her chest plates and gently yanking until it gave way and the chest covering slowly fell to pool around her waist. The effect wasn't quite as pronounced because of the mesh bandages, but I wasn't a picky mech.

So I focused on repeating the same action on the bow holding the lower half of her costume in place, causing the rest to slip all the way off, leaving her sitting in my lap in her protoform. Well save for the little nurse hat she was still wearing and the bandages.

I moved to put her on the couch, kneeling between her legs, carefully pulling both over my shoulders and pausing only briefly as Sunny squeezed his way in next to me and took her right leg from me so that he could hitch it over his shoulder, leaving me to maneuver the left over mine.

By now she was blushing so fiercely that a trail of blue slipped down passed the bandages covering her chest plates. "W-What are you d-doing?"

Instead of answering her verbally, we both opted to just dive in. I went straight for her opening and thrust my glossa up inside her tight channel, leaving Sunny to attack the external nodes which in turned caused a surge of lubricant to gush onto my probing appendage.

She started thrashing on the couch, crying out as she undulated her hips against our faces, making me groan as I slipped that much further inside of her as a result. I swirled my glossa around her channel, gathering every drop of the never-ending flow of her sweet lubricant.

"Sides…"

I growled against her, tilting my helm to give Sunny more room to work when he accidentally knocked against my optic with his chin.

She whimpered more harshly as her channel started quivering in time with her increasing the gyrations of her hips. "Sunny! Sides!" Her frame suddenly tensed, coiling up like a spring as her channel started quivering harshly.

We both looked up at her as we increased the speed of our attentions, watching as she tossed her helm back against the couch and let loose a keening wail when her overload finally tore through her with the force of a freight tram. She fell so hard that her channel nearly ripped my glossa clean off with the intensity of which it tried pulling me in deeper.

I groaned anyways, enjoying the way it massaged my glossa and coated it with a thick swath of sweet lubricant. She continued keening while we busied ourselves with lapping every drop that she had to give.

Once the last drop was gone I sat back and wiped any stray lubricant from my lips and sucked it off of my digits. "Still sooo good." I sighed contentedly.

She stared at us with wide optics. "Oh… can you do that for me more often?"

I pressed my spike against her opening, grinning devilishly. "Frag yes! Anytime you want Princess!"

 **(Hey how come you get to go first?!)**

 **(Because I was faster than you!)**

 **(Sides…)**

 **(Maybe we can do it together?)**

He blinked at me. **(Maybe.)**

"Hey Princess Sunny wants to know if we can face you at the same time?"

Her blush intensified even further. "I'm not sure I'm big enough…"

"We can adjust the size of our spikes to make it easier."

She cocked her helm at us. "Oh right… forgot about that."

"So can we?"

"Yes."

Sunny pressed himself side to side with me, both of us shifting out spikes down to a more manageable size for her, and then we lined up with her opening and started sliding in. Micron by painstaking micron, we forged our way into the deepest recesses of her channel, and she whimpered in what seemed to be equal parts pain and pleasure. Even shrunk down we were still quite sizable, so she'd need to do this a few times to adjust to it.

For that reason, we were especially gentle with her. I even leaned forward and pressed my lips against her gently, kissing her to try easing some of her discomfort. She grabbed my shoulders and dug the sharp tips of her digits into them, squeezing as she whimpered again in more discomfort.

I pulled back almost at the same moment that we finally hit the bottom of her channel. "Shhh! Just try relaxing a bit ok Princess? It'll be easier that way."

"O-Ok."

While she worked to relieve the tenseness in her frame, I busied myself with gently nipping at her throat cables while Sunny leaned up and took his turn kissing her. We continued working her like this in an effort to relax her so as not to cause her as much pain.

I bit down on a sensitive bundle of wires just beneath her chin, causing her to mewl softly, the sound vibrating the soft sheath we were buried in. My hips gave a subconscious thrust without my consent, ripping a soft groan from my vocalizer. Primus I hoped she loosened up soon…

She gasped as well, pressing her hips back and keening quietly because of it. Pulling back, she panted harshly, optics blazing. "Please…"

Not needing to be told twice, we both shifted higher on our knees and started thrusting into her. Slow at first, but the more she relaxed and allowed herself to dissolve into the sensations, we allowed ourselves to speed up bit by bit, causing her cries to increase further.

Snapping our hips up to meet hers vigorously…

Watching her helm thrash from side to side as she moaned loudly.

The soft inner walls creating the most amazing friction with each thrust.

We both growled heatedly, the sound hitching when she started quivering around us after only a few kliks. Her cries increasing in volume even more as she tried to thrust her hips back, but in this position they were unable to move more than a micron.

She didn't seem to like that either if the frustrated whimpers were any indication. Taking pity on her we shifted in unison and started pounding into her with enough force and speed to send her surging into yet another powerful overload.

Her helm flew back, valve clenching down as she screeched at the top of her vocalizer. The sound of her pleasure, combined with the way her channel clenched down tighter than a vice on our spikes, ripped our overloads from us with just as much vigor.

I buried my face against her throat, grunting with each frenzied thrust my hips gave to disperse my transfluid into her channel. Beside me I could heard Sunny snarl as he did the same, while Athena just continued keening in ecstasy…

And she kept the soft sound up even after we'd stilled.

I looked up at her after I managed to slow the harsh cycling of my systems. She was slumped back at an awkward angle that kept pressure off of her healing door wing, but was still more of a lazy pile of limbs than anything. Her optics were scrunched shut, and her mouth was open in a small, **'o'** shape.

Maybe she sensed me staring at her, because she opened her optics and slowly turned to stare down at me with a lazy smile. I smiled back and leaned up to press my lips against hers briefly, moving to one side when Sunny came up and demanded space so that he could kiss her too. So we ended up kissing one side of her lips each while she giggled.

"I love you two."

"We love you too Princess."

* * *

R&R!


	31. Chapter 31: Jealousy to the Extreme

Posted a new fic called Wild Spark, check it out! I also put up a poll for it! I reserve the right to make my decision based on what I want, but I do want to know what you guys think on the situation! Also if you have a Deviantart account please check out my newest poll for a new Athena redesign! My username is the same as it is on here! I do not own Transformers!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Another quartex had gone by, and I was allowed to return to work in the med bay. I still had some residual pain in the joint of my wing, but for the most part it wasn't too bad. At least I was able to walk around normally, without throbbing pain in my hip or wing. They could very easily have been permanently damaged by what had happened.

I would say that I was lucky, but Uncle Ratchet was still set on lecturing me about what had happened, and how much of a pain it was to peel all that silicone residue out of my wounds. It was rare not to have him comment on it at some point during the day. Since I understood it was just his way of letting go of the emotions seeing me in that state had caused, I let it go without commenting.

Especially since he wasn't the only one still wound up over what had happened. The twins were being absolutely ridiculous with their behavior lately. Not that I didn't appreciate them accompanying me everywhere, but the simple fact that they'd walk me to and from work even on their days off was raising quite a few questions with Cee and Flareup. They mostly chalked it up to the incident on the mission I think, but every so often Cee would slant a look my way that made me think that maybe she suspected more. I hoped not…

Anyways, right now I was just getting off shift in the med bay, and I had no idea which twin was coming to pick me up from work today since neither had to come in. Knowing them both would probably come along as an added precaution. Well, unless Sunny was in a painting mood, which reminded me that I needed to get to work on a painting to use for trade for the portrait of me that was hanging in their living room.

I hadn't had much inspiration lately… and I think he noticed. It was hard for me to feel inspired after what had happened to my studio and everything in it, on top of everything else that had occurred lately. Since then I hadn't even really been able to bring myself to sketch anything… let alone step ped into the workspace he had set aside for me.

Every time I tried I just ended up sitting on the couch or in front of my easel, blankly staring at the empty canvas or page in front of me. No matter what I did nothing would motivate me to do more than bring a coal stick, or paint brush to the canvas… and then nothing. I just couldn't seem to do anything…

I sighed as I finished sorting new supplies into the cabinets again. There were other things to be worried about, like the fact that it was time for me to leave for the day. With that thought, I turned after finishing the last of my work and made my way to the door. "It's time for me to leave Uncle!" I called out since he was in the storage room at the moment.

"Go on then! I'll see you the day after tomorrow!" He yelled back.

I left the med bay, pausing outside the door when neither of the twins were waiting for me as per usual. Well that was weird, but maybe they were running late? I shrugged and turned to make my way towards the exit when a familiar voice rang out from behind me.

"Athena!"

I tensed, a feeling of joy and giddiness suddenly blooming to life in my spark. Whipping around, my optics landed on the red and white form of First Aid of all mechs. He was walking towards me with a bright smile on his face.

"Aid!" I ran up to him and threw my arms around his waist. "I thought you'd never return to New Iacon!"

His arms slid down to encase my shoulders as he laughed, the sound deep and rich. "I thought I would have to stay in Uraya forever as well, but luckily I was able to get a transfer back to New Iacon. I'm happy to see you!"

I pulled back to stare up at him with a bright smile of my own. "I'm happy to see you too! We need to go and catch up!"

"Well I'm free right now if you want to go get some energon and catch up?"

"Yes of course! There's this nice café not too far from base!"

He stepped aside and gestured down the hall with a sweep of his arm. "Lead the way Athena."

With that we left the base together and made our way to the café I liked to frequent. It never occurred to me to contact my mechfriends and tell them where I was going, or that they shouldn't come to the base to pick me up, but I didn't even think of it. Instead I was focused on catching up with Aid.

When we made it to the café I led him inside and we chose a booth near the back and sat across from one another. I was so happy to be able to talk to Aid again!

"So? When did you get transferred back to New Iacon Athena? Last I heard you were in New Polyhex."

"I've been back for a while actually. They didn't need me to train the new medics in New Polyhex anymore, so when the opportunity to transfer back came along I took it. I missed everybot here so it was nice to get back and see them again."

He chuckled. "I know how that feels. So what have you been up to?"

"Oh working mostly."

"All work and no play again? I guess that's ok though."

"I wouldn't say that I never do anything fun Aid. Flareup and Cee drag me out for femme's nights pretty frequently, so there's that."

"I remember how they really got into that after the war ended and we came back to Cybertron." He mused quietly. "Well after spending so much time fighting in a war I guess we're all entitled to enjoying ourselves some."

I nodded in agreement. "Yes that's true. I-!" My next words were cut off when Stormstream of all femmes came up to take our order.

She stopped next to our table and cocked a hip out, a smirk in place on her lips. "Well, well… What do we have here? Athena was it? What are you doing out on a date with another mech?"

My cheeks instantly surged with blazing hot energon. "I'm not on a date with him!"

"Oh? Just catching up with an old friend then? I wonder what your other friends might have to say about this?"

Aid looked at me oddly.

I shook my helm to clear it. "Look you're supposed to be taking our order, not interrogating me on things that aren't your business! Why don't you do your job?"

She scowled at me. "Fine! What'll you two have?"

"Sweet energon and some rust cake."

Aid looked between the two of us in confusion. "I'll have the same."

"I'll have it out for you two in a breem or so." With that the glitch turned and stomped out of sight.

Leaving me under Aid's sudden scrutiny. "What was that all about?"

I sighed. "It's a really long story that I don't want to get into at the moment. I just want to talk and catch up with you a bit."

He smiled comfortingly. "Alright. I won't ask about it again."

"Thank you."

"So… how's Sparky doing? Does he still attack anybot that comes into your living quarters?"

I found myself giggling at the memory of when he had done that very thing to Aid when he had come over one time. "Sometimes. He does like to defend his turf, but I think he's starting to settle down some."

"Well that's good right? I remember a time where he'd shock anybot that came near you!"

We both laughed quietly at the memories of all the things Sparky had done. One in particular stood out more than anything else though: Spark's introduction to Uncle Ratchet. Just thinking about it had me laughing all over again even though Aid had already stopped. "Oh! Remember the day Uncle Ratchet found out about him?"

He chuckled again. "Oh I remember that. He shocked Ratchet so hard that I thought he'd never recover!"

"You were about to glitch from worry!" I added on with amusement.

"Hey! I happen to care about the wellbeing of other bots! So what if I was worried about my mentor?"

"I thought you were going to stress so much your paint would spontaneously turn gray!"

"Well I didn't. No thanks to you and Sparky!" He joked.

"I have no control over him."

"Yes you do… sometimes."

We continued chatting for a few more kliks, until Stormstream came back with our orders. She sat them down in front of us with a bit more force than was necessary, before stomping off again. Aid watched her go and turned back towards me with an optic ridge raised. "I don't think I want to know what her problem is."

"You don't… trust me."

He stared at me for a moment before deciding to change the topic. "So… how good is the rust cake here?"

"Very good. Just try it!"

Taking my advice, he cut a bite and brought it up to stuff it into his mouth, chewing it slowly as his optics scrunched, then the ridges shot up in what was definitely surprise. "This is good. I may have to make it a habit to come here regularly."

I swallowed the mouthful I was working on to respond. "I come here a lot myself. Maybe we can set aside a day to come here every quartex or something?"

"I would like that."

My HUD suddenly flashed out of nowhere, followed by a loud ping from my comm link. Sunny's designation was the first thing I noticed, and as soon as I did I immediately berated myself for forgetting about him and Sides. Scrap!

"One astrosecond Aid. I have an incoming comm link."

"Ok."

With that I tuned into the frequency. **:Hello?:**

No sooner had I spoken my mechfriend's angry voice was booming through my audios. **:Where are you?! I came to pick you up from work and you're nowhere to be found!:**

I cringed. **:Um, I got off shift and ran into Aid and we decided to go out for energon so that we could catch up for a bit.:**

The comm channel was dead silent for a moment… **:You're out with First Aid?:**

 **:Yes. We're just catching up some.:**

 **:At the café?:**

 **:Yes. I shouldn't be too long so you should head back home.:**

 **:I'll come get you.:**

 **:Sunny, I'll be fine. If it's that big of a deal, I'll see if Aid wants to walk me back.:**

 **:No! I will come get you myself!:**

I sighed.

"Is something wrong Athena?" Aid asked in concern.

"I have to go Aid. Maybe we can catch up more later?"

"Of course… Do you want me to walk you home?"

"Sure."

We both got up to make our way out as I commed Sunny back to let him know. **:Aid and I are leaving now. I'll see you at home in a few kliks.:**

 **:Fine!:**

He cut the link, leaving me in relative quiet while Aid and I made the short jaunt back to the housing unit I was sharing with the twins. My friend was mostly quiet as well, but after a few kliks he turned his helm down towards me. "Athena are you ok? Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine Aid."

"Are you sure?" He asked at the same moment that we turned the corner to the street the twins' housing unit was on.

"Yes I'm sure." We walked up past the little fence that surrounded the front yard and finally came to a stop in front of the door. I turned towards him with a hesitant smile. "Well, I'll see you around?"

He nodded slowly. "I'm sure we will."

"Ok. Bye Aid."

"Bye Athena." He hesitated for a moment longer, before he turned and made his way onto the street, where he paused to eye something over my shoulder for another klik or so, before transforming and driving off towards the base.

With him out of sight, I slowly turned to make my way inside, only to get assaulted with the sight of bright gold plating literally microns from my face. I stumbled back in surprise, but then a large servo clamped down on my arm and tugged me inside the housing unit.

"What the frag was that Athena?!" Sunny snarled as he dragged me through the entry way and into the living room where Sides was standing next to the couch looking just as surprised by Sunny's behavior as I was.

His grip was so tight that it bordered on painful. "Sunny let go of me!"

He ignored me completely, bellowing angrily. "YOU WERE OUT WITH ANOTHER MECH!"

"It was just Aid Sunny!" I protested.

"I DON'T CARE! YOU'RE NOT HIS! YOU'RE OURS!"

"I know that! We were just talking!"

All of a sudden he released me and spun around with an absolutely livid expression. "DID HE TOUCH YOU?!"

I stumbled away from him as my spark pulsed with anxiety because of the look he was giving me. He never directed such anger at me! It was only ever reserved for others, and yet here he was pinning me with that look! This was different than the times he was frustrated with me for doing something he didn't think was safe! It was because he was genuinely enraged at me… and it scared me… The worst part was that I didn't know how to answer him, because Aid and I had hugged each other and I wasn't sure how he would react to that!

"HE DID, DIDN'T HE?!" He continued raging. "I'LL KILL HIM!"

"No! No don't! We didn't do anything like that! I just hugged him!"

If possible his rage burned even more viciously because of that remark. "YOU HUGGED HIM?!"

"Yes! But that was it!"

His armor flared violently, nearly shaking as steam started wafting up from his frame in thick plumes. "I SAW THE WAY HE WAS LOOKING AT YOU! HOW COULD YOU LET HIM TOUCH YOU?!"

"Because we're friends! It's was just a platonic thing! We're not like that!"

"WELL I DON'T THINK HE'S AWARE OF THAT FACT! HE WAS STARING AT YOU LIKE HE WANTED TO BEND YOU OVER SOMETHING AND FRAG YOU! AND YOU LET HIM TOUCH YOU!"

I snapped back like he'd slapped me, standing there, staring at him as my spark pulsed with hurt. It felt for all the world like he was actually accusing me of cheating on them right now! I hated cheating and everything associated with it! It ruined lives! How could he think that about me?!

Sides chose that moment to intervene by grabbing a hold of Sunny's upper arm. "Sunny calm down! Let's just talk to Athena and sort everything out calmly!"

"TALK CALMLY?! SHE WAS WITH ANOTHER MECH!"

"I know that and I'm not happy either! But yelling at her isn't going to solve anything!"

Sunny ripped himself away and stalked towards me, and in turn I backed away from him until I felt my back hit the wall. Even then he pressed forward until we were literally pressed flush against one another. "Do you want to leave us for him?!" He growled in a more composed voice, one that didn't match the storm brewing in his optics.

I felt my plating start clacking against my protoform in response to the growing fear I was feeling. "N-No! I love you!"

His servos suddenly slammed down on the wall just microns from my helm, startling me so much that I actually jumped and squeaked. "THEN WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU GO OUT WITH HIM INSTEAD OF COMING HOME TO US?!"

I whimpered.

Then Sides somehow got between us and shoved Sunny back. "That's enough Sunny! You're taking this too far! You're letting your anger cloud your judgment!"

"SHE WANTS TO LEAVE US FOR HIM! SHE WANTS THAT PUREBRED NOBLE MECH!"

"No she doesn't! Have you been listening to anything she's said?! Just calm the frag down!"

I don't know what exactly happened, but I assumed that Sides used the bond to force Sunny to calm down because he suddenly stopped yelling at me. All went quiet for a few kliks, but I kept my helm averted so that I was facing the wall with my optics clenched shut, armor continuing to rattle loudly in the otherwise quiet room.

When Sunny next spoke it was calm, quiet, and maybe even regretful. "Athena…?"

My optics slowly slid open, reluctantly drifting to the side where both mechs were standing and staring at me. Sides was still standing between the two of us, looking for all the world like he was trying to reassure me with the look in his optics that everything was okay.

I wanted to believe it, and some part of me was extremely relieved that Sunny wasn't acting quite as volatile now, but when said mech pushed passed his twin and raised a servo towards my face I reacted instinctively by flinching back away from it. Try as I might, it was my frame's natural reaction after all the yelling and anger that had just occurred. It made me remember all those times…

His servo froze just short of actually touching me, optics clouding over with regret and guilt. He hesitated for a moment, then pushed forward and gently cupped my cheek anyways. "Athena… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to scare you."

I tensed when he touched me, expecting it to hurt me somehow even if I knew in my spark he wouldn't harm me. It wasn't something that I could help… I did try…

"It's okay… It's okay… I'd never hurt you Athena." He murmured quietly, servo gently rubbing over the expanse of my cheek. When I didn't say anything he slid his servo under my chin and tilted my helm back so that I was forced to look at him. "Listen to me… no matter how angry I get I will never hit you. I promise you that."

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat harshly. He still had this look on his face that made me believe that he was telling the truth, but I still couldn't say anything.

"I keep screwing this up don't I?" He muttered after a moment. "Every time I turn around it seems like I'm scaring you somehow."

Sides laid a servo on his shoulder comfortingly. "You just need to cool your systems sometimes bro. Instead of getting so slagged off we need to sit down with Princess and talk things through with her, without yelling or getting violent."

Sunny jerked himself away from both of us. "Look at her Sides! She's scared of me! She thinks I'm going to hit her!"

Sides turned towards me. "Princess? You know he won't hurt you right?"

Despite my nervousness and previous fear, I nodded. He had frightened me a few kliks ago when he was raging, but it was an irrational fear that was mostly brought on by the memories that sprung up as a result of some of the things he'd done. Not an actual fear of him. I couldn't explain it, but even if I was scared I knew he wouldn't actually hurt me.

"See Sunny? She's not scared of you."

"She's not scared? Look at her! She's shaking!"

He was right… I was still shaking. I had to forcefully calm down by repeatedly telling myself that everything was okay. Sunny wasn't going to hurt me and I knew that. I wasn't going to make excuses for the way he'd acted, but I knew that he'd never harm me. Yell at me yes. Hit me no.

That was why I was able to calm myself down and take a slow step towards him. He tensed as I approached him and slid my arms around his waist before burying my face into the plating there. For a moment he just stayed standing there doing nothing, then after another few astroseconds his arms slid around my waist and pulled me as close as possible.

"You know that I wouldn't hit you right?"

"I know that…"

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

He started rubbing small circles on my back, before pulling far enough away that we could look each other in the optics. "I know I was an aft and that I scared you, but I was only acting that way because we don't want to lose you to another mech."

My spark skipped a beat at those earnest words. I could tell from the look on his face and the way his EM field washed over me, letting me feel the emotions he was feeling, that he was telling the truth. He was worried that I'd leave them for another mech.

What was I going to do with this mech…? Hug the life out of him until he understood I wasn't going anywhere? That sounded like a good idea!

I tightened my hold around his middle, holding him as tight as I could.

He vented harshly. "Athena…"

"What am I going to do with you Sunny?"

"I know what I'm hoping for."

I pulled back to look up at him again. "I'm not going to leave you for another mech. We've had this conversation before."

His optics searched mine for truth in the words I spoke, and after a moment or two he seemed to find what he was looking for because the look on his face softened and became less tense. "I know, but I guess I'm just thick helmed."

"Both of you are."

He smirked. "So are you. And by the way you're crushing my back strut right now."

"Oh… oops!" I loosened up a bit.

"Better."

It got kind of quiet after that, us just standing there in each other's embrace, until Sides finally made himself known by pressing his frame up against my back. "Ok so now that this mess has all been sorted out can we talk about the reason that everybot reacted the way they did about it? As in peacefully and without anybot yelling at each other?"

I guess Sides deserved an explanation of what happened to get his twin in such a raging fit… Not that I wanted to get anything started again… I looked up at Sunny and he still looked far calmer than before, but he still looked a bit irritated at it being mentioned again.

With a sigh, I turned and made my way over to plop down on the couch as they followed along and sat down on either side of me. I sat stiffly, with my wings sitting tensely on my shoulders and waist.

"So?" Sides pressed impatiently.

I sighed again. "Sunny got angry because I went out with First Aid after work."

He frowned, but didn't start raging like his twin had. "I got that much at least."

Sunny suddenly cut in out of nowhere. "Yeah, and she didn't comm us to let us know that she was going out with him! I was worried about you femme!"

"I forgot ok? You weren't there when I got out so I thought you'd forgotten, and then I ran into Aid and it's been ages since I last saw him! When he asked me to go out for some energon so that we could catch up a bit I agreed to go. I just… I know that I should have commed you, but I was so excited to see him that I didn't even think about it."

"Well you should have Athena! You should have commed us to let us know that you were going out! I got there and waited for you for a few breems and when you didn't come out I went in and asked Ratchet if you were still working, and he told me that you'd left a few breems prior! I was worried about you femme!"

I slumped dejectedly. "I'm sorry ok? I just got caught up in talking to Aid again!"

"You and First Aid are really close aren't you Princess?" Sides asked with a certain degree of tension in his frame.

"We're good friends. We trained with Uncle when we were younglings, and he was one of the first mechs I learned to trust as a friend. But for me it's only ever been a platonic relationship…"

Back then I couldn't even entertain the thought of something more. The trauma of the things I'd experienced made it impossible for me to see any mech in that light, Aid included. I honestly thought that I'd never be able to experience a kind of love and affection that was romantic in nature. Not after what I'd been through…

"I've never seen him like that… Back then I wasn't… interested in things like that. I didn't see mechs in that way, and I ignored them for the most part. There were a few that I could talk to and learned to trust after a few millennia, and Aid was one of them. But as for being able to trust a mech intimately? No. I wasn't ready for anything remotely similar to what the three of us have now, and I don't want what we have to be ruined because you're jealous of him. There's nothing between us."

"So you're just friends?" Sides asked to clarify.

"Yes. Aid has always been my friend."

"Well I don't think he knows that Athena." Sunny muttered irritably. "He was looking at you like a lovesick petro hound."

To be honest I had no idea what he was talking about, and I may be getting the impression that these two would see every single mech that looked at me as being interested. I knew full well that there were plenty of mechs out there that would turn their olfactory passages up at me and go after a better femme. The fact that these two were so helm over peds for me was still confusing sometimes, but I wouldn't jinx myself by thinking too hard about why. If they wanted me I was here to stay.

Pushing myself up on my knees, I brought both servos up to cup his cheeks and bring his helm down so that I could lean up and press my lips against his. I kissed him gently, but with as much affection as I could muster.

Afterwards I pulled back only far enough that I could audibly speak. "I will not cheat on you, or leave you for another mech. I've seen the kind of pain things like that cause, and I'll never do it to anybot else. Especially not to somebot I love, and since I love you silly mechs, I guess that means you don't ever have to worry about it!" I ended on a falsely cheerful note. I did mean what I said, but remembering some of the things from my past upset me.

My carrier…

The way she had suffered because of what my Sire had done… He acted like she was the monster, like she had wronged him somehow. Like he was in no way responsible for what had happened when it was all truly his fault.

He blamed her…

He hurt her so many times…

And he hurt me too… and it only got worse after she was killed.

Just thinking about it hurt so much…

I missed her more than words could express.

She was gone though, dead and it was just as much my fault as it was my Sire's.

"Princess?"

Sides' voice had me snapping out of my internal musing. I looked up at him meekly. "Yes?"

He reached out and gently trailed a digit up my cheek. When he pulled it back his digit was covered with a coppery tinge of coolant. "You're leaking."

I reached up and touched the smooth expanse of my cheek plate and immediately felt the coolant trickling down it. Huh… I hadn't even noticed that I was leaking…

Sides scooted closer and cupped my cheeks. "What's wrong Princess? Why are you upset?"

I quickly wiped the tears away and forced myself to smile for him. "I'm okay. Don't worry."

"No you're not! You're leaking!"

"I'm fine Sides."

He tugged me onto his lap and caged me in with his arms, staring me down intensely. "Tell me what's wrong with you right now Ati."

I ducked my helm down against his shoulder to avoid his stern gaze. "I can't."

"Yes you can. You can always talk to us about anything Princess."

I'd never told anybot about my real carrier. Not Danni, Opi, Uncle, Cee, or Flareup. Nobot knew a thing about her because my past and all the things that haunted me were closely guarded secrets. I'd most likely take the things I knew to my death without uttering a word to anybot.

I quickly changed the subject by easing myself off of his lap. "I never got to finish my lunch. Maybe I should make some mercury cake or something?"

"Athena…" Sides growled.

I ignored him, turning to make my way into the prep room so that I could look over the contents of the fridge and cabinets. While I was rummaging through the storage cabinet for the utensils I needed I heard them come in.

"Athena why won't you tell us anything about your real creators or where you came from? We told you about some of the things we've endured. Yet every time we even mention your past you change the subject or walk out."

I paused in what I was doing. What could I say to them? What would appease them and get them to leave me alone about the real reason I was leaking? I could tell them that I was from Praxis, which nobot knew about me. They all just assumed that I was from Iacon, which is where I was found. They thought that my creators were killed, or that they had abandoned me during such hard times. I guess in a way they were right, but not the reason why.

Telling them that I was left for dead as the City fell wouldn't appease them. If anything it would raise more questions… It would be easier to tell them that my family unit had actually died, as if I'd ever had a real one…

I felt my frame slump, like the sudden massive weight that had settled on my shoulders was too much to bear. Pulling back, I stood and sat the needed items on the counter. "I'm from Praxis."

One of them made a startled sound of surprise. I figured it was Sides when he suddenly stammered, "P-Praxis? But… Prowl said that he, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen were the only bots left from the original Praxis."

I snorted. "They only think that because ' _ **they'**_ didn't find any survivors. Not because there were actually none left. I was dug out of the rubble of a building by a silver and black femme. She was the one that got me out of Praxis, and she dropped me in Iacon afterwards... I never saw her again..."

Up until that point in my life nobot but my carrier who was already long dead, had ever shown me kindness and compassion. Yet, that femme that I didn't even know, who wore a Decepticon symbol, had taken it upon herself to save me when she didn't even know me. She took me from a place that was supposed to be my tomb, my eternal resting place and the end of all my suffering, and she made sure that I got out of Praxus.

I still clearly recalled her black and silver paint, gentle features, reassuring smile, bright green optics…

She'd made sure I had made it. She hadn't just given up and left me for dead like everybot else had.

I shook the thoughts away. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

They looked like they wanted to push me more, but maybe they were smart enough to realize I wasn't going to say anything else because neither pressed anymore.

I was thankful for that, because it meant I wouldn't end up a sobbing mess at any point tonight.

* * *

R&R! Check the polls on here and on DA for me please! XD Let me know what you think!


	32. Chapter 32: Angry Eruptions

So stuff is about to give everyone whiplash in the next few chapters of this story. Good, bad, and more bad all mixing together in order to make you hate my guts. I hope you guys will stick through all the dark stuff and wait until it gets better later. Anyways, on a less light note Wild Spark is not getting much views or anything and it's frustrating me. I'm tempted to put it on hiatus until I finish other things. There's no point in writing something that no one is going to read. I'm thinking of just prioritizing stories to update based on demand for more. We'll see I guess... Anyways I do not own Transformers! I only own the plot and my OC.

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I watched Athena furiously typing things into a data pad across the booth from Sides and I. After another long shift Ratchet had given her some extra medical reports that needed to be done so she had to get them finished by tomorrow.

Normally she was pretty composed when working, but today she was stressed for some reason. Her expression was one of frustration, optics squinting, lips set into a slight frown, and door wings slumping down almost flat against her back.

I had no idea why she was like this right now, and I honestly didn't like it.

Sides didn't either, but so far he'd managed to keep his thoughts to himself. At least until she suddenly started beating on the data pad she was working with for some reason. "Um, Princess? Why are you beating on that data pad?"

She growled rather impressively, fist slamming down on the surface of the data pad repeatedly. "Because the fragging thing is glitching! I accidentally dropped it on the way here and it hasn't worked right since!"

"Then use a different one." I suggested.

The scathing look she gave me was rather impressive as well. "Sunny I worked on these fragging reports through over three fourths of my shift today! Do you know how long it would take me to move the data onto a different data pad?"

"A while…"

"A while is an understatement! It would take me a few joors to compile the data and transfer it over. That's the only reason that I haven't done it yet! Besides, I don't even have another data pad on me right now!"

"Well save it and we'll help you transfer it onto another one when we get home."

She pressed her pointer digits into her temples and sighed. "I wanted to get it done before we get back so that we could spend some time together tonight. I've been so busy that we haven't had time to really do anything in the last quartex so I wanted to make sure I put some aside for us to do something."

Figures she was working herself down to the strut in order to make time for us!

"As much as we like that idea Athena, you shouldn't stress so much. We'll find a way to make some time to do something in the next day or two. We all have the day off the day after tomorrow." I pointed out calmly.

It didn't seem to placate her any if the sudden harshly muttered curses she uttered were any indication. "Primus fragging sonuva glitch! Not if I don't get this done before then! If these reports aren't finished by tomorrow Uncle's gonna have my aft! In that case I'll spend my whole day off filing them!"

Sides leaned forward curiously. "What kind of reports are they exactly? Something really important obviously."

She huffed angrily, stopping to smack the data pad when it seized up on her again. "They're medical files for the resident Autobots on base who need their vornly examinations, and then we have a new recruit coming in sometime within the next quartex so I need to get that sorted out. I'm supposed to meet with her tomorrow to give her a physical!" All of a sudden the data pad screen went white and the sound of metal grinding on metal sounded as Athena mashed her denta together. "That's if I can even get these filed before then! Stupid piece of scrap data pad! GAH!"

I opened my mouth to comment on that when somebot else beat me to it. "Throwing a fit Athena? That's not like you."

Athena's helm popped up, optics shooting over to First Aid as he approached where we were sitting, then they shot back over to us.

I scowled at the mech who was staring at Athena with optics that were just a tad too warm and filled with longing. Sides stiffened beside me when he picked up on that too, and the bond between us surged with possessiveness, and a protective anger.

Our femmefriend looked back and forth between him and us warily. "Hi Aid." She greeted him politely anyways.

It was at that moment that he seemed to sense the tension that had fallen over us, or maybe he saw the way we were glaring at him. I didn't really care why he suddenly looked wary himself! All I did care about is that he got the message we were trying to convey.

' _ **She is ours, and we aren't willing to let another mech have her!'**_

His optics stayed locked on us for a klik or so, before they slowly drifted over to Athena. "Hello Athena. Working on the reports for Ratchet still?"

"Yes. My data pad is being glitchy at the moment though. I'd have had it done a while ago if not for that."

"That can be a nuisance can't it?"

She nodded. "Yes it can."

Aid gestured at the booth. "May I sit? There aren't any other booths available at the moment."

She hesitated for a moment, turning to look around the surprisingly crowded café. Every single booth had somebot sitting in it. She turned back towards us briefly, and I knew what she was going to do even before she stood and let Aid slide in against the window. Then she sat back down and slid her servo over the top of mine, rubbing it briefly, then she switched to Sides and repeated the motion.

First Aid saw this and stared between the three of us with an odd expression, one tinged with longing and even jealousy. He was very good at hiding it. Not that Athena was able to see the look he wore at the moment.

When she sat back he quickly wiped the look away and offered her a smile. "So Aid… You know these two?" She gestured at us.

He nodded. "Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. I've worked with them on a few occasions. I had no idea that you knew them though… well I would never have thought so, but I have been wondering why Sunstreaker was at your housing unit the other day when I walked you home."

"Oh that…" Athena laughed nervously. "Well… it's their housing unit actually."

"I see."

"Actually it's our housing unit. She is our femmefriend after all, so of course she lives with us." Sides inserted smugly.

His optics widened and shot down to Athena at the same moment that she looked up at him nervously. "Athena… is that true?"

"Yes it is."

I leaned forward so that my chin was propped up on my servos, smiling just as smugly as Sides was. "Yes, she's our femme. Only ours!"

Athena glanced at me from the side, frowning sternly. "Sunny there's no need to be rude."

"I wasn't being rude. If I was everybot would know it. I was just stating a fact."

She just sighed. "Behave."

I took her servo in mine and pressed a kiss to the back of it, reveling in the way First Aid's optics narrowed minutely. "Of course Princess."

Her cheeks were slowly enveloped in a faint blush, darkening when I trailed my lips over her knuckle joints languidly before I handed her off to Sides so that he could do the same. And the whole time First Aid kept trying to fight the glare off of his features. I guess we found the one thing that could anger the mech…

Too bad neither of us gave a frag about whether we offended him or encroached on the femme he was pursuing… He was too late to compete for her servo since it was already ours. He'd just have to accept that fact and move on or we'd beat the sense back into him.

How I'd jump at the chance to establish Sides and I as the dominant mechs, and the only ones who would be allowed to sparkbond to Athena. I even felt my servo twitch in anticipation.

Athena gave me another stern look when she caught the minute movement.

"Oh isn't this cute? The little femme has managed to snag herself three mechs at the same time!" An obnoxiously familiar voice giggled.

We all looked over at Stormstream who was standing beside our booth with a servo resting on her hip, which was jutting out at a provocative angle. Her optics were alight with a sadistic type of mischief, and her lips were set in a cocky smirk.

Athena scowled at her. "Excuse me?"

Storm's smirk widened. "I was just saying that you seem to have quite the fan base. Must be nice having all these mechs fawning over you!"

I stared between the two femmes, Athena who was scowling at Storm but at the same time looked confused, and Storm who was obviously baiting her somehow. How, I wasn't really sure. But I had the distinct feeling that things were about to get nasty. "Why don't you go the frag away Storm? Can't you see you're not wanted?"

"Of course I'm not! Why would any of you need me when you have your very own pleasurebot?"

Our femmefriend tensed. "I am not a pleasurebot!" She hissed.

We all looked at her suddenly livid expression in surprise. Her door wings had shot straight up in a high **'V'** shape that was only accentuated by the way her armor had puffed up in obvious aggression. That was saying nothing about her optics which were blazing white.

 **(Oh scrap…)** Sides muttered apprehensively.

Storm didn't seem to heed the obvious aggression that was blooming to life in our otherwise sweetly dispositioned femmefriend. She leaned over the table until she was right in Athena's face. "Oh? And here I was under the impression that most femmlings take after their carriers. I guess we know what your real Danniluk was."

The only warning we had that Storm had gone too far was a sudden and unexpected flash of red in normally bright blue optics. Then Athena threw herself out of her seat, grabbed Storm by the back of her neck, and slammed her face first into the table with so much force that the white marble buckled and broke under the pressure, sending Storm crashing into the rubble covered floor near our peds.

I jolted back as some fragments bounced off of my armor and chipped a few spots on my legs and abdomen, but instead of getting angry about it I just stared at Athena with wide optics.

She reached down and plucked Storm's dazed frame up from the floor, hefted her over-helm with surprising strength, and tossed her through the window without paying a bit of attention to anything else.

Then our femmefriend climbed up over the remains of the table an enraged snarl that sounded like it came from a mech three times her size, leaping out of the shattered remains of the window before the sound of a frame hitting the ground had even registered. Leaving Sides, Aid, and I sitting there staring out the gaping hole while she grabbed Storm by the back of the neck and yanked her up from the ground, only to slide her servos around to either side of her helm and jerk it down at the same moment she brought her knee up and slammed it straight into the other femme's face.

A sickening crack sounded as Storm screamed in pain, energon gushing out of her olfactory passage and mouth. Her jaw was now hanging limply, and a good part of her face was dented in. But Athena just took her by the back of the neck and dragged her out of sight. That was what finally had us jumping up to rush after the two.

One by one we all threw ourselves out of the hole in the window and raced around the corner where Athena must have dragged Storm to, if the sound of metal striking metal was any indication. We skidded into the alley where Athena was crouching over Storm with a wickedly curved wrist blade poised at Storm's throat cables.

"Listen to me you overly glossed frag toy glitch! If you ever even think to mention my carrier again I will rip you apart at the joints and reassemble you in such a way that even a virus infested petro hound won't want to frag your corpse!"

My jaw actually dropped clean off its' hinges. I couldn't believe that this was our femmefriend!

"Did you hear what I just said?!" She screamed as she shoved her blade against Storm's throat so that energon slowly trickled out from the shallow cut it made.

Sides suddenly shot by me and latched onto Athena's arm so that he could rip her away from the comatose femme. "PRINCESS NO!"

"LET GO OF ME SIDES!"

"NO! YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING YOU'LL REGRET!"

"WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING HER SIDES?! LET ME GO!"

I finally snapped out of the blank staring I'd been doing and latched onto Athena's arms to stop her from struggling. "Ok that's enough Athe! You showed her that you're tired of her scrap but you're about to take it too far!" Not that I really had any right to talk but…

She glared up at me with a vicious snarl pulling at her lips. Uncharacteristic red optics stared up at me with rage and hurt clearly shining in them. "WHY ARE YOU TWO PROTECTING HER?!"

"We're not! We're trying to keep you from going to jail for murder!"

Her frantic thrashing suddenly stilled completely, leaving her dangling limply from our grip. Even though she had stopped struggling her vents were still stuttering loudly along with her cooling systems as they tried expelling all the excess heat from her frame.

Sides pulled her flush against him. "Aid can you go check on Storm?" He asked without taking his optics off of the top of Athena's helm.

The mech in question quietly skirted around us to kneel next to her unmoving form.

While he was doing that we moved to the opposite side of the alley. "What the frag was that all about Athena?" I asked once we were out of audio range.

"She talked scrap about my carrier!" She practically hissed, optics burning an even brighter red.

I wanted to ask about the sudden change in them, but I refrained. "You should know better than to let her bait you! Besides, you know that Elita's not a pleasurebot! Why let Storm work you up over something you know isn't true?"

"She knows who Danni is so obviously she wasn't talking about her! The glitch was talking about my real carrier!" She snapped angrily.

That brought me up short. We knew nothing of Athena's real carrier. Not her designation, appearance, or even what really happened to her. She had told us that she was from Praxis so it wasn't a stretch to say that her Danniluk had perished during its' fall perhaps. Unfortunately, that meant that neither of us had a clue why Athena was so defensive over her carrier. Then again maybe the sudden change in her optic color and the reason why she got so slagged off could be all the answer we needed.

Only bots with mixed coding had optics that changed color from blue to red. All this time we'd assumed that Athena was a noble, but now it seemed as if she was like us in a way. We were mixed breeds too, though most didn't know because we inherited the berserk coding, the traits of which overruled the normal physical attributes of mixed breeds. So our optics burned white when we were angry, or when we were about to lose control and go berserk. Either way it set Sides and I apart from others like us.

Athena got angry when Storm accused her carrier of being a pleasurebot…

Her optics were burning red with anger… which was a trait that only bots with mixed coding have…

Given what I'd seen I could only assume that either Athena herself had been a pleasurebot at one point, or her carrier was one. Either would make sense given the fact that our femmefriend was so untrusting of most mechs and feared that they only wanted to use her. She refused to be used solely for interface, and needed to be sure that we felt something for her before she actually gave it to us. Those traits fit my assumptions, but until Athena told us about her past I couldn't be sure.

The femme in question suddenly ripped herself away from us and stormed out onto the street.

Sides recovered faster than me and chased after her. "Athena wait!"

I turned and followed along after them, catching sight of Athena's back as she angrily stomped down the street while Sides had to run to catch up to her.

"Athena come on! Let's talk about this!"

"No! Just go back to your loverbot!"

My twin flinched back like she'd actually slapped him. "She's not my loverbot! I don't even care about her! I love you!"

"Yeah right! You probably say that to every femme that puts out for you!"

"I do not! I've never once said, _**'I love you'**_ to somebot that I didn't actually love! I would never use those words against you to get what I want!"

I caught up to them at the same moment that she spun on Sides and shoved him away from her. "Sure you don't! You must've said something to get every femme in New Iacon to instantly hate my guts just for being with you!"

"They're just jealous of you! Primus femme! I don't know what you're accusing me of, but whatever it is I'm an innocent mech!"

I stepped between the two of them to diffuse the situation. "Both of you need to calm down. Especially you Athena. Sides didn't do anything to warrant you getting angry at him. Storm was the one who slagged you off."

"What's got you acting like this anyway Princess? I know that you're angry, but taking it out on us isn't cool."

She ground her denta together as steam started wafting off of her frame. "How about the fact that every single time I go anywhere with you there's some femme in my face accusing me of stealing you from her, or somehow insulting me? We can't go anywhere without something like this happening! I'm tired of it!"

"We can't control what other bots do Athena." I pointed out calmly. The last thing I wanted to do was get angry and exacerbate the situation.

She huffed. "I know."

"Then calm down and stop taking your anger out on him."

"That's a really hypocritical request coming from you."

I tensed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You got angry at me and threw a fit because I went out for energon with a friend Sunny! So he has a crush on me or whatever! As long as I don't return those feelings why should it matter? Yet I have to deal with scorned femmes every time I go somewhere with you two!"

I could kind of understand that but…

She gritted her denta as her armor started rattling loudly. "It'd be nice to be able to go do something and not have somebot harassing me!"

Her EM field surged forth, coming free from the controlled state she usually kept it in and pelting us with all of her frustration, sorrow, anger, aggravation, and a powerful sensation of consuming loss. That combined with the way her optics misted over with coolant was enough to almost knock us off our peds.

 **(I really screwed this up didn't I?)** Sides muttered shamefully.

 **(You didn't screw this up Sides. It wasn't your fault that I wouldn't give any femme the time of day, and all that was left for you to do was to become a player. If I hadn't been so fragging stubborn we wouldn't be in this situation.)**

 **(But then we may not have met Princess. If you had given a femme the time of day we might have bonded to one already, and then we would've lost the chance to bond to Athena. I wouldn't change anything if it meant that we ended up with her.)**

 **(That is true… Either way we need to talk things out with her. And maybe find a new spot to hang out with her so that she's not overwhelmed by all our old frag buddies. Obviously the café isn't gonna cut it anymore.)**

Sides winced. **(I guess not…)**

We both looked up when Athena sighed tiredly. "Look… I'm going to see if I can crash with Cee and Flareup tonight. I need some space."

"No! Please don't do the whole space thing Princess! It never ends well!"

"I just need some time Sides. Just a night."

When she turned to walk away I quickly latched onto her arm to prevent her from leaving. "Athena we're sorry ok? I mean… technically what happened today wasn't really our fault, but we don't mean for our past interface partners to keep popping up!"

"I know…"

I slowly turned her around so that she was facing us with her helm still bowed, small trickles of coolant leaving steady streams down her cheeks before they gathered on her chin and fell to the ground in thick drops. Using my servo, I tilted her helm back, revealing her normal blue optics, only they were coated in a thick sheen of coolant. "Why don't we go home and talk about what happened?"

She sniffled. "I'm sorry for being mean to you two…"

Sides came up and tugged her into a three-way hug. "It's ok Princess. We know that you're frustrated. Let's just go home and talk it out ok?"

She just nodded without arguing any further, allowing us to draw her in between us as we started on our way home. I wasn't sure if she'd tell us anything… but we'd still try talking to her about it.

Whether she'd talk to us about whatever was bothering her remained to be seen.

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I'd attacked that femme.

Maimed her…

Threatened to kill her…

And I might have actually done it too had the twins and Aid not been there to intervene. I'd been angry at them because in my enraged and hurt state, I'd initially perceived their actions as nothing more than them protecting her from me. Now I was just filled with guilt… Not for attacking her, no she'd spoken poorly about my carrier and that was one of the few things that hurt me enough to make me become violent.

No, I felt guilty because I'd further taken my anger out on Sides and Sunny. I was just so angry because every time I went somewhere with one of them some femme was harassing me. It was like a nonstop thing! It made me not want to actually go anywhere with either of them sometimes!

I should be used to being insulted or put down. I shouldn't care that others looked down on me as somebot who was unimportant or insignificant. It shouldn't bother me when they insinuated that I was a worthless pleasurebot… I was used to being called that. But bringing up my real Danni was too much.

She was the one brief light in a sea of darkness that I'd had before I met my family unit.

The only one that cared about whether I was okay.

The one to comfort me when I was scared.

And the one that I comforted when she was hurting too. I'd clung to her for as long as time had allowed, only to lose her as soon as my spark was strong enough to support itself without our bond. They didn't need her anymore after that.

Her presence gave me comfort, and a small sliver of happiness.

I wasn't allowed to have those things. They'd told me that often enough.

Yet, as my optics drifted up to take in the forms of the two mechs sitting on either side of me, I relented and admitted to myself once again that I had found things that made me happy. And I acted so ungrateful to them today.

But they weren't acting angry at me because of it. They'd just brought me home and sat us down on the couch where we now sat, silently alternating between staring at each other, or wherever else our optics wandered.

Then Sides' gaze suddenly locked with mine, only this time neither of us immediately broke contact. He scooted closer and carefully wrapped an arm around my waist, and in doing so he caught Sunny's attention. "Do you want to talk about what happened now Princess?"

I ducked my helm down, swallowing heavily as their heavy stares weighed down on me. I wasn't sure what to say about beating up one of their former loverbots. Not that I was sorry… because I wasn't… Maybe that was a good place to start?

"I'm not sorry." I muttered quietly.

Sunny snorted. "We wouldn't expect you to be. In fact, I was impressed by that aft whipping you gave her."

"Ok we both agree on that bro, but instead of commenting on how hot it was, we should be trying to help Princess vent."

"Kicking aft is always a good way to vent for me. Maybe Athena's more like me than we thought?"

It was hard to admit it, but Sunny was right in a way… I did feel a lot better now that I had beaten that femme up. I had no idea how long it would last… Probably until I got chewed out by Prowl or Opi for getting into a fight with a civilian. Then that would start a conversation that I in no way wanted to take part in. Either way I wasn't going to argue it now.

I sighed tiredly. "I don't like to fight… but that glitch just slagged me off."

They stopped arguing with each other. "Yeah we kind of got that when you slammed her helm straight through a marble table." Sides commented quietly. "Not that we have an issue with you standing up for yourself or anything. It was just surprising to see is all…"

"I know… She just… crossed a line this time."

Sunny scooted a little closer. "We noticed…" He nudged me to get me to look up at him, and when I did he twined his servo with mine while his optics held mine steadily. "You know that you can talk to us about it right? Whatever's bothering you, we'll help you through it."

Sides took my other servo in his, prompting me to look up at him and he was smiling reassuringly as well. "If you want to talk we'll listen Princess. You can tell us anything and we won't judge you."

I looked down at my lap to avoid the way they were looking at me. Could I really talk about my carrier without falling apart? I never let anybot see me cry over her, which was the reason I never spoke of her. If I did they would see the way it hurt me, and then anybot that wanted to hurt me would focus in on the pain that overcame me whenever I thought of her.

Still… if I could trust anybot not to judge me it had to be these two.

"Her designation was Ignicia." I murmured so quietly that it was barely a whisper.

"Your carrier?" Sides guessed.

"Yes. She was a low bred Praxian, but she was beautiful…" I still fondly remembered the blazing red optics that she got her designation from. Ignicia, a bright burning flame of passion. Despite the reason why she received that designation, it fit so well with those burning pools of red that only cooled and became soft for me. Her armor was a rich cream color, and everywhere I was gold she was as well.

Sides nudged me. "Tell us about her." He encouraged me with a smile.

I pulled my knees to my chassis and leaned my chin on top of them. "She was a rich cream color, and I got my gold accent colors from her, and my dual sets of door wings as well. Her optics were red like most slave class bots are, which is why she got the designation Ignicia. It means, _**'A bright burning flame of passion',**_ fitting for a pleasurebot huh?"

"Fitting for a beautiful femme bot who gave birth to you." Sunny corrected me. "If she looked anything like you she must have been gorgeous."

I felt my cheeks heat up in a blush. "She was… It was also the reason she was such a highly sought pleasurebot. Her beauty made her a commodity for higher class noble mechs."

"Nobles only want to be seen with the best of everything, and that includes pleasurebots." Sunny concluded.

My optics started blurring as coolant welled up in them. "Yes. And my carrier was as high profile as pleasurebots could get. But she hated the life she lived. She didn't want to be a pleasurebot."

"What did she want to do with her life?"

I smiled a bittersweet smile when I thought of the time she'd told me of what her dreams were. Dreams that were unrealistic because of the status quo and social stigma… She'd known and it'd crushed her spirit long before I was born, and yet my existence had somewhat eased the feeling of loss and worthlessness she felt. I gave her a reason to live again. "She wanted to be a doctor."

Their vents hitched. "So that's why you chose to become a medic?"

I nodded. "I wanted to fulfill her dream in some way… It's not the same really, because she's dead and she's not able to be everything she wanted, but it's the best I can do. She always told me that life rarely gives us a choice, but when it does we should make decisions for ourselves without letting somebot else dictate what we have to be. That was why I chose to become a medic when Opi allowed me to enlist for training. He was the first bot that actually gave me a choice to be anything other than the spawn of a pleasurebot. I learned a lot about myself because of him and Danni. Most of which I'd never have been able to explore, such as the fact that I love art and reading, and video games. I learned that despite being a mixed breed I have a high processor capacity, so I'm not just a low bred half bit like everybot always thought I was. I was actually able to make something of my life that doesn't entail me warming some mechs' berth for the rest of it. I can be with a mech if I want, but I don't have to. I'm free to be whatever I want to be. I just wish that she could see it." My vocalizer hitched with the sudden and abrupt swell of sorrow and loss that my last whispered words brought forth in me. I wanted her to see that I'd overcome the odds set against me and persevered to become everything she'd hoped I would. But she couldn't. She never would. Her every dream was crushed under the tyranny of everybot in the world around her.

I gritted my denta to try fighting the way I wanted to cry… because I really did just want to let go and cry for my carrier. For the one brief light I'd had in my life for so long…

"Forcing yourself not to cry won't make it better Athe."

I shook my helm at him, biting down on my lip so hard that it split the metal.

He let go of my servo long enough to pluck me up and drag me up onto his lap so that our fronts were plastered together. One of the servos splayed across my lower back shifted around under my chin and tilted it back so that I could clearly see his somber expression. "You can cry. We won't judge you."

I tried to keep fighting it, but a soft mournful keening sound escaped me despite my efforts.

He gently guided my helm down so that my face was pressed against his shoulder. "Get it all out."

I tried to fight it off only to fail miserably and quickly dissolve into a fit of loud keening wails. Coolant practically erupted from my optics like twin geysers as I surged forward and practically buried myself in Sunny's plating.

"It's ok Athe…"

I gasped, spark crying from the pain of the shredded part where a bond had once been. "Danni…"

There was nothing there… Just a giant rip that would never truly heal. I'd been alone for so long, festering in the pain of it that I'd almost learned how to become numb to it at will. But now I was drowning in it… in the memories of warm red optics staring down at me with thinly veiled agony resting in their depths. No matter how hard she tried, she could never keep it all hidden from me…

"DANNI…!" I wailed at the top of my vocalizer. The arms holding me tightened as the frame they were attached to started slowly swaying from side to side, then he moved me so that I was cradled sideways in his lap, and Sides pressed himself against my other side.

"It's ok Princess." He cooed softly.

"They took my Danni away!"

Sides pulled me up so that my face was buried in his throat cables, and then he pressed us against Sunny as the two wrapped me in one of the tightest embraces I'd ever felt. "We know Love."

My claws dug down into his neck, clutching at him as I felt myself falling fully under the weight of my despair. I sobbed uncontrollably, crying out for somebot I knew would never come back but I couldn't not cry for her. I never let myself fall like this. I forced myself to live with the pain without expressing it. I didn't want anybot to know how much I hurt inside, because I was afraid that they'd find amusement in it like ' _ **they'**_ had.

They'd laughed at her misery and my own.

They'd made me watch her being raped before I even knew what that was.

And they'd forced her to watch as they started breaking me in to be everything she was, and everything that she never wanted me to be. I'd seen what little light she had inside her slowly fading as she watched me suffer as well.

"Shhh… Shhh…" Somebot crooned at me.

In my grief I imagined it was Danni trying to calm me after somebot had hurt me. She'd always held me close and rocked me in the safe cradle of her arms… It was all that she could do to ease my pain since she couldn't put me in her sparkling hold where I would've had more direct access to the warmth of her spark. I'd always been denied that security for obvious reasons. But oh how we'd both craved the feeling of being together like that.

Instead she just shushed me when I cried. Never when anybot could see or hear it, because they wouldn't allow it. They'd rip us apart and keep us separated so that we'd have to suffer without being able to comfort one another.

Like now… I was acutely aware that she wasn't here to comfort me. And that did nothing to ease my rapidly growing panic. My spark suddenly seized under the warring sensations of sorrow and I ended up as nothing more than a shuddering mass of rattling plating and mournful wails.

I don't know what really happened after that, my mouth was running and sounds were coming out of it, but I had no idea what I was saying. I couldn't even hear it over the roaring in my audios.

I just couldn't stop…

I couldn't stop anything…

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

She'd stop screaming a joor or so ago. Now she was laying slumped against me, unmoving for the most part outside of periodically shuddering every few kliks. She was venting softly in exhaustion, but she'd keen or whimper like she was going to break down all over again. Luckily she seemed to have exhausted herself for now.

I hugged her tight and rubbed soothing circles across her lower back. She shifted slightly, turning her helm so that I could see her dull half lidded optics. Coolant was still trickling down her cheeks, and she looked beyond exhausted.

Rather than asking her if she was ok, because she clearly wasn't, I just stood with her cradled in my arms and made my way into our berthroom. Once there I laid her out in the center of the berth and crawled up on her right side and wrapped myself around her. Sunny crawled up on her other side and pulled the blankets over us, then he pressed himself against her back.

I gently cupped her cheek as she stared blankly at me. She looked to be on the verge of passing out right now, but that was to be expected after such a huge mental breakdown. It was actually surprising how distraught she really was over her carrier. She always hid it so well…

But it was clear that it was all a mask. The façade of somebot that was unable to cope properly on her own. So she hid it and locked it away until it became unbearable. I knew, because Sunny was the exact same way.

 **(I let it fester until I explode.)** He remarked somberly.

 **(Yeah. But I've always been there to help you through it. I get the feeling that Princess has never had anybot. I don't think she's told Optimus or Elita about this.)**

 **(Me either. But maybe she'll let us be here to lean on when she needs it? I don't want her to suffer alone.)**

 **(We won't let her. Soon enough we'll ask her to bond, and then when that happens we'll be able to help her deal with her pain more. She's not going to be allowed to suffer in silence anymore.)**

I looked down and Athena's optics were closed, vent rattling gently in her recharge. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her fore-helm. "Recharge well Princess… We'll be here with you in the morning."

Every morning from now on…

* * *

R&R! Well let me know what you thought.


	33. Chapter 33: The Aftermath

So a little bit of her past has been revealed! There's still a crap ton that hasn't even been broached yet so be prepared for more drama and angst later! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! Another lemon chappie!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

When I first came to my processor was hazy and muddled. I felt exhausted, but I couldn't seem to think straight for a few kliks so I had no idea why I was feeling like I'd just been put through one of Danni's more intense training sessions…

Why was I so fragging tired? Why did my optics feel like they had lead weights pushing down on them? I wasn't even sure that I could open them! I ended up struggling to do so, and after I'd managed to blink them open the first thing that greeted me was the familiar sight of bright red plating.

I didn't even remember going to berth last night… In fact, I remembered nothing at all…

Confusion ate at me, causing my vocalizer to emit a sound that was something akin to a soft grunt. Sides shifted and his plating rattled as he yawned loudly, arms tightening around my waist to pull me closer. For a moment it seemed as if he'd fallen back into recharge, but then his deep timbre voice drifted over my audios. "Morning Princess. How're you feeling?"

I looked up at him tiredly. "I feel like my helm's filled with static."

He hummed quietly. "You broke down last night. I'm not surprised you're feeling drained."

My optic ridges pinched together in confusion. I… broke down last night…? "I don't…"

The words died on my glossa when the memories of last night came racing back. Getting into a fight and threatening to kill the twins' old flame. Taking all of my anger and frustration out on them because I was hurting over my carrier. Them confronting me about it when we got home, and me telling them about her. I'd lost myself to the grief that I rarely allowed myself to express because of it. And throughout, even in moments where I was consumed by pain, they'd been there holding me while I cried.

They did the one thing that nobot else had ever done for me before.

Not my real creators…

Not Cee or Flareup…

And definitely not my real Sire… He'd reveled in my suffering and anguish…

But these two had… been here for me. I felt like I wanted to cry again, but at the same time I didn't want to have another breakdown, so I forced myself not to. Instead I swallowed heavily, suddenly acutely feeling the empty space behind me. I'd take any distraction at this point. "Where's Sunny?"

"He left for work a while ago."

I sat up and looked at the empty side of the berth, something occurring to me in that moment. I had to go and do that physical for the new arrival today! In fact… I WAS LATE!

Sides must have realized what I was thinking because he pulled me back down to the berth when I tried scrambling off of it. "You're not going to work today. Sunny stopped into the med bay to let Ratchet know that you weren't feeling well today, and I chose to stay home with you."

"Sides! I had an important examination to do today! You two should've talked to me before making a decision like that!"

He just shrugged. "You need to rest today. Sunny and I were worried about you."

I turned to flop onto my other side with a moody huff. "I'm fine!"

The berth shook slightly as he dragged me back so that I was pressed flush against him. "Don't be like that Princess. We're just taking care of you the best way we know how."

"I know that Sides! I really do appreciate it too, but you two should've talked to me about it before doing that!"

"Well I'm talking to you now."

"Yeah! After it's already said and done! Now it'll have to be put off until tomorrow because she specifically requested that a femme do it, and I'm the only femme medic currently working on base!"

"But tomorrow is your day off!"

"No today is my day off! I'm going into work tomorrow!"

He scooted closer to me with a whine. "But Princess…!"

"No buts Sides. Either I comm Uncle and go in to do the exam today, or I comm him to tell him that I'm coming in to work a shift tomorrow! It's your choice!"

"You're being really mean right now."

I turned and flopped onto my other side so that I was facing him, and of course he was pouting like he always did. "Well you deserve it! You two shouldn't have just assumed that you could call into work for me! This was Uncle's only off cycle and he's the one that probably had to cover for me! Do you know how many days he's worked straight without getting one off? Over two quartexes!"

He winced. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah well from now on maybe you two should ask me first! Instead of just assuming that you can do things like this!"

Ok so maybe I was being a little harsh but I didn't like the fact that they'd done something like this without consulting me! We didn't have enough coverage for any of us to call in like this and now Uncle was probably stuck working a double shift! Ugh! Ok no I couldn't do this! I had to comm him and tell him I was coming in!

I sat up and started crawling down the berth.

"Where are you going Princess?"

"To work."

He got up and followed me out into the hall and down the stairs. "Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Yes I'm fine. Uncle needs to take a day for himself." We walked out onto the street and started towards the base as I opened a comm link.

 **:Uncle? Are you in the med bay?:**

 **:Yes. I'm covering your shift for the day. Why?:**

 **:Go home. I'm on my way in now.:**

 **:I'm fine Athena, but Sunstreaker stopped in and informed me that you'd had a rough night and that you needed to take the day off. Why are you coming in?:**

 **:Because you've worked two quartexes straight without a day off! So get your aft home and take it easy for the day and I'll cover for the rest since it's my shift to begin with.:**

 **:There's no way to talk you out of it is there?:**

 **:No. Now go home! I'll be at the base in a few kliks.:**

 **:Fine.:**

I cut the link and focused on the mech walking silently beside me. He hadn't said a single word, and it made me feel bad for how I'd chewed him out earlier. Sides didn't deserve to have me unload so much anger and frustration on him like I did. They were only trying to do what they thought was best for me, and being attentive of my needs like good mechfriends.

That thought had me stopping a block or so from the base, in turn prompting Sides to slide to a stop and stare at me oddly. "Princess?"

I stared at my peds guiltily. "I'm sorry Sides."

"For what?"

I felt coolant start pooling in my optics again, which aggravated me because I hated crying so much! But I couldn't seem to help it lately! I was either angry and lashing out at these two, or breaking down into tears in front of them!

I quickly wiped the tears from my optics before they could fall, then I slowly trudged forward and pressed myself against him. His arms came down and slid around my waist, pulling our frames flush against one another.

He leaned his chin on top of my helm. "What are you sorry for?"

"For being so horrible to you and Sunny yesterday, and for being mean to you this morning. I've just been frustrated lately."

"Everybot has those days Princess. You're not perfect."

I pulled back so that I could look up at him. "That doesn't make it ok. I love you two and I haven't done a thing to show it lately."

Servos trailed up my back, around my shoulders, then finally up to cup my cheeks. He rubbed small circles there with the pads of his thumbs as he smiled at me in a way that could only be described as loving. "Yes you have. Sunny and I understand that you've been going through some things that have been hard on you. You're just venting right now and that's ok Princess. Sunny and I aren't upset with you for getting a little testy yesterday, and I'm not mad about you chewing me out a while ago. I understand, and I love and accept you anyways."

Before I could respond to that he pulled my helm up and pressed his lips against mine gently. It was chaste, with him pulling away after a few astroseconds, but I still felt my spark fluttering incessantly within its' chamber, so strongly that I felt a little light in the helm. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but I was still struggling to understand what was causing it. I chalked it up to having such strong emotions for these two. Still…

I played with the seams in his hip armor out of embarrassment brought on by the thought that I suddenly had. "You said you forgive me… but can I do something to make it up to you after we get home?"

Innuendo practically oozed from every word, and he instantly caught onto what I was saying if the sudden perverted smirk was any indication. "I'll never turn you away. The only stipulation I have is that I get to make sure you enjoy whatever happens just as much as I do. Deal?"

"Deal. Now we really have to go otherwise I'll be late." With that I grabbed his arm and started leading him back towards base again. "So Sides… what are you going to do while I'm at work? You called in to stay with me today."

"Mmm… I'll probably just go back home and stay there until you and Sunny get out. Unless I decide that I want to head into the comms deck where I was supposed to be working at this time…" He didn't look amused at the prospect.

I stopped just around the corner from the base and tugged on his arm. "Why don't you just head back home? That way you don't have to dodge Prowl and risk getting roped into actually working?"

He smirked. "We've been a bad influence on you, haven't we?"

I smacked his chassis playfully. "Yes you have! Now I'm breaking rules all the time, and I've been turned into a perverse face maniac! You and your brother should be ashamed of yourselves!"

His shoulders shifted up in a minute shrug, and he looked not the least bit apologetic. "We can't help the fact that you're into us that way."

"Oh hush and go home you! I'll see you when I get off and do not eat the rest of the mercury cake! I call dibs on the last slice!"

He pouted. "Mean!"

I shoved at him. "Go!"

"Alright! Alright I'm going! Just remember the promise you made me Princess!"

"Ok. I'll see you after work Sides." With that I turned the corner, crossed the road, and made my way inside the base. I made my way straight to the med bay where Jolt was sitting at his desk working on some medical reports.

He looked up when I walked in. "Oh hey Athena. The new recruit is in examination room three." With that he went back to what he was doing.

"Thanks Jolt."

I made my way into the exam room after grabbing the medical file in the basket on the back of the door. A tri color femme was sitting on the berth staring at the far wall. She was made up of dark blue and silver predominantly, her knee pads, pelvic armor, and chest plates were a dark blue, while the rest was silver. Her helm slid backwards so that it looked streamlined, but it had a bright blue gem in the center of it. She also had wheels for peds.

She looked up at me when I walked in.

I smiled gently as I took in her more angular features. Optics that were a pretty blue, but were slightly curved at the ends, a small but straight nose, lips that were proportioned so that the bottom was far fuller than the smaller top lip. She had a rugged look to her, but she was still pretty.

"Hello I'm Athena, one of the resident medics here. As you've probably already guessed I'll be doing your examination today."

She smiled at me. "I'm Relix. And yeah I kind of already got that when you walked in."

Hmm… she had a blunt sense of humor… "Yes well that did give it away. Anyways, I'm sure you have places to go and things to do so let's get started right away. First things first, I need your height and weight."

"Ok." She stood up and jumped up onto the scale I gestured to, in doing so allowing me to take in the lithe but somewhat curvy figure she had. Her chassis and aft weren't voluptuous, but then again neither were mine really so I didn't mention it.

After her weight flashed across the screen I wrote that down in my file. "Ok. Step down and move over to the far wall so I can measure you."

She quickly moved over to the far wall so I could use the micron stick to get her height. It turned out that she was about a helm taller than me. I wrote that down as well. "Ok. Your weight is right on target with your height and frame type so that's good. Sit down on that berth so I can take some energon samples, then I need to ask you some questions."

"Sure."

We walked back over and she pulled herself back up on the berth and allowed me to quickly fill several vials with some energon samples. Most new recruits squirmed at the sight of needles, but she was surprisingly relaxed about it.

I turned and deposited them into a container, before pulling a stool for me to sit on. Once I was comfortable I flipped her file open and went over the basic information we had. No glitches. No history of health problems. No viruses, defects, no prior gestations. Her slate looked completely clean.

"Well it looks like you're a pretty healthy femme."

"Yup. Never even had a virus in my life. I have a pretty good defense system seeing as I had pretty good medical care as a sparkling."

"Well that's always a good thing. You haven't been having any problems recently then? No pain in the spark chamber or the internal systems? They've been functioning properly?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. I'm healthy as a turbo horse."

I sat the file down and stood up to grab some sterilized gloves. "I believe you, but it's customary for all new recruits to have their spark chambers examined in case serious defects are present. Then after that I need to run a series of scans to make sure you're as healthy as you claim to be."

"Not like I have much of a choice right?"

"No."

"Then do your worst Doc."

I shook my helm, a smile coming to my lips for some reason. She was kind of funny in a blunt, sardonic way. "Just lay still and relax for this part and it'll be easier for both of us ok?"

"Ok."

Once she was laying completely still I tapped her chest plates to get her to open them, and she immediately revealed her bright blue spark to me. I peered inside her chamber to check the integrity of her casing, which looked to be perfectly intact, no cracks in the glass, so no worries of that being cracked or ruptured at present. Her spark was also shining brightly which was a clear indication of her being in good health.

"Hmm looks good so far. Let me take your spark rate." I turned and grabbed some prongs to attach to the casing to measure the rate her spark was functioning at. It was far more accurate than just listening or performing most scans.

It only took a klik or so for her reading to come back at optimal levels. I wrote that down in her file as well, before I removed the prongs. "You can close you spark chamber now." While she was doing that I pulled over one of our more powerful scanning terminals. "Ok. Lay still and let me run this scan real quick, and then we should be done for now."

"Alright." She laid still while I positioned the terminal over her berth and hit the switch to start it up. "So Athena, did you hear about the two femmes that got into a fight at a café nearby yesterday? I heard one of them beat the other up so bad that her face was smashed in and her jaw was broken. They were working on her earlier this morning I think."

I cringed internally, but kept a stoic outer appearance. "Um, yes I heard about that. Poor femme."

"I heard she instigated the fight by crossing some major line with the other femme, and she got her aft beat for it."

"You don't say… Well maybe she should've kept her mouth shut instead of antagonizing the other femme. I have no pity for her." Mostly because she talked scrap about my carrier and nobot got away with that! Glitch was lucky that Sides pulled me off of her otherwise I would've had her aft a thousand different ways.

"Me either. If you're gonna antagonize somebot and eg 'em on you better be willing to take what they give back. Dumb glitch had it comin' if you ask me."

I smirked as I finished up with her exam. "I agree. I'm done though so you can sit up now."

She did as instructed. "So Doc… Do I get the all clear to start working?"

"Yes you do. Everything looked great. I'll send my report straight to the CMO to be reviewed, and he'll pass the information along to the SIC, and from there he'll start working you into the training schedule. It shouldn't take long, but it can take up to a quartex to get everything in order so until then take it easy."

She hopped down from the berth and started toward the door, stopping to look back over her shoulder at me. "Alright! See ya around Doc!"

"Relix?" I called out before she left the room.

"Yeah?"

"Please don't call me Doc. My designation is Athena. Call me that."

She smirked. "Ok Athena. See ya around." With that she was out the door, leaving me to finish inputting the last bit of information into her file.

"Well she seems interesting…" I muttered to myself.

* * *

Sunny was waiting for me in the hall when I got off shift later that day. It had been a slow day with little else going on, which I should be thankful for considering the fact that Storm was probably going to press charges against me or file a complaint. Luckily it seemed as if she hadn't so far, but I wasn't stupid enough to believe that it wouldn't happen.

"You just couldn't take it easy for today could you?" My mech asked as he pushed off of the wall and slung an arm around my waist.

I smacked his chassis and scowled at him playfully. "I had important things to do today I'll have you know! I'll take an easy day tomorrow!"

He shrugged. "Alright well let's go then. We've got all night, and all day tomorrow to do whatever we want."

We started towards the entrance of the base, but didn't get more than a few steps before somebot called out for me. "Athena?"

I tensed, slowly turning to face my Opi who was standing a little ways away from us. He had his arms crossed over his chassis, and his expression was one of irritation and disappointment. Well it looked like I wasn't getting off as easy as I assumed.

Sunny looked down at me worriedly, to which I just shook my helm and stepped away from him to approach my Opi. "Yes Opi?"

He turned his back on me. "Come with me. We have something important to discuss." With that he turned and walked off without even looking to see if I was following him.

"I'll wait for you outside the front entrance of the base ok Athe?"

I nodded at my mechfriend and quickly scurried after my creator. The whole time I stared at his back while we walked to his office, spark racing wildly in my chassis, filling me with all kinds of fear. Would he be so angry that he would disown me? Was I going to go to jail for beating Storm's face in? Or would he transfer me out of New Iacon to prevent any more problems?

By the time we got to his office I was desperately trying to prevent myself from shaking so hard that my plating started clacking against my protoform. I'd never been in trouble with Opi before. Not really anyways. My processor couldn't help but to conjure up horrible memories of past events with my real Sire and the things he'd done when Danni or I had angered him. No… my Opi wasn't like that…

Opi gestured to a chair in front of his desk, before he went around and took his own seat. "Sit down Athena."

I hesitantly plopped down in the other chair, wings sitting rigid on my back and waist.

"From your posture I can tell that you already know why you are here."

I bit my lip and nodded.

He leaned forward and sighed. "Ratchet had to reconstruct that femme's face Athena. Her jaw was completely shattered, and her olfactory passage was smashed in."

Yeah… I already knew that…

"What could have possessed you to cause such harm to one of the bots that you are sworn to protect as an Autobot? She's a civilian Athena! She has no prior combat training or fighting experience! What you did yesterday was completely unacceptable!"

His voice rose at the end, making me flinch back at the stern and angry tone. He never yelled at me either, but now I could clearly sense just how mad he was. In his defense he had a good reason, but so did I for what I had done.

"Do you want to explain what was going through your helm when you severely wounded that femme?"

I looked down at my lap and rung my servos together nervously.

"Athena? Answer me!"

"She kept harassing me every time I went into that restaurant! I have decent tolerance for stupid scrap, but even I have my limits! She crossed a line yesterday!"

"And that gave you the right to attack her?" He asked incredulously.

I back tracked a little bit. "Well no…"

"No? She crossed a line like you said, that being the reason you just gave me for attacking her, and yet now you're saying that it did not give you the right to attack her? Make up your processor Athena! I want answers! Now!"

Maybe it was the angry waves buffeting me over the bond… Maybe it was all the stress caused by everything that had happened over the last day or so… I couldn't really say for sure… But I felt myself growing agitated all over again.

I lost control and actually yelled, "SHE TALKED SCRAP ABOUT MY CARRIER AND CALLED HER A PLEASUREBOT! SHE'S LUCKY I DIDN'T ACTUALLY KILL HER!"

He seemed taken aback. "You did this because she called Elita a pleasurebot? Sweetling, you know full well that your Danniluk is not a pleasurebot. For anybot to even think to call her one is foolish."

Of course he didn't understand… He didn't know that I wasn't talking about Danni. I'd never told him a thing about my real carrier, so what else was there for him to assume? Now my actions must seem even more excessive to him. But I was scared to tell him anything about her…

I looked down with a huff. "You wouldn't understand…"

For a moment all was quiet, so deafeningly quiet that I nearly jolted when I heard the sound of his chair quietly scraping across the floor. I still kept my helm bowed down so I wasn't looking at him, which was why the feeling of his powerful arms lifting me up from the floor surprised me. He settled me against his chassis, hugging me around the waist and using an arm to cup the back of my helm.

I couldn't even find it in me to tense or pull away, because this was one of the few places I'd ever been in my life that made me feel truly safe. Opi was the first bot to really try comforting me, and the first one that I had accepted it from when I should've run away screaming when I had the chance. Instead I'd watched him continually try to help me when at first I'd just repelled every attempt at it. He'd never given up on me when I'd brushed him off out of the overwhelming fear he's originally instilled in me.

And now… he was my Opi. He was one of the few bots I could just touch like this and not be afraid of… He taught me that it was ok.

A deep purr rumbled through his chassis as he slowly swayed me from side to side like he used to after he first adopted me. "Perhaps I could understand if you'd explain to me what made you so angry?"

I buried my face into his shoulder and whimpered, unable to hold everything back as I normally did. "I just… miss my Danni…" Coolant started pooling in my optics, some slowly spilling down over my cheeks before I could stop it.

"That is normal. We cannot help but to miss those that have left us sweetling. All we can do is honor their memory by remembering the sacrifices they made for the ones they loved. There is no shame in remembering her, or mourning her absence."

My vocalizer hitched, emitting a low keening sound that exploded into a garbled hiccup. "I-I just… m-miss her so m-uch!"

"I know, and while I understand that it may not be enough to say this; Elita and I are always here for you. We cannot take your real carrier's place, but we can love you just as much as she did. We do love you as much as any creator could every love their creation. So mourn her absence as you will, but do not forget that when that is all said and done, you do have creators who love you dearly."

I felt him beckon me through the bond, demanding that I open my side, and I did so without hesitation. Of course I kept a barrier around the things I couldn't bear to tell him yet, but I did let him in so that he could take the pain I was feeling away and replace it with his seemingly infinite love for me.

He pressed a kiss against my fore-helm. **(I love you Athena. I know that may not be enough, but I mean it. You will always have loving creators. We will never leave you.)**

 **(Promise?)**

 **(I promise.)**

 **(I do too sweetspark.)** I hadn't even realized that Danni was paying attention to what was going on, but when she filled me with her own feelings of warmth I just melted.

Overwhelmed with it as I was, I just curled into the pillar of strength that was my real Sire.

And I took comfort from the family unit I was never supposed to have…

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

I just got out of a match of TDM when the front door opened and Sunny walked in with Athena. Normally I would've beamed at them and swept her up to kiss her senseless, but she looked like she'd been crying and Sunny had an arm wrapped around her and was being especially affectionate with her. Normally he wasn't prone to any form of PDA unless he was stressed and needed the comfort, since he obviously wasn't nearly as worse for the wear as she seemed to be, I was assuming that something was wrong with her.

For that reason, I shut my game off and stood up to approach them. "Princess? Are you okay?"

She sniffled and nodded, wiping at a fresh trail of coolant that suddenly spilled down her right cheek plate. "I'm fine…"

Sunny slanted a look my way that clearly said she wasn't fine. **(She got called into Optimus' office before we left… When she came out she was like this.)**

 **(Scrap… He confronted her about Storm.)**

 **(Definitely. Should've known that he was going to, but for some reason I didn't expect her to come out acting like this.)**

 **(Me either.)**

My twin looked down and nudged our femme to get her attention, and waited until she looked up at him to begin speaking. "What did Prime say to you? Are they going to charge you for attacking Storm?"

"No. She didn't even file a complaint against me. Somebot who was present at the café identified me, so even though she didn't press charges I was still reprimanded for it."

I sighed in relief. "Well at least you didn't get put in jail or something!" Because that would really mess up a lot of plans that Sunny and I were working on! That and it was hard to have a good relationship with a femme who was incarcerated. It was kind of a surprise that neither Sunny or I had been jailed for anything since joining the Autobots. Then again fighting with a civilian was a more serious offense, versus fighting with other Autobots. Excluding the fights that we got into on patrol. Those were perfectly valid, and I was rambling again!

She gave a noncommittal shrug and moved to go upstairs. "I guess that's a good thing."

"You don't seem very happy about that." We followed her up the stairs as she made her way to the wash racks, where she started getting her washing supplies around to take a shower.

"I am… I'm just not in the best mood right now."

My optics followed her as she started the shower up and stripped out of her armor, uncaring that we were standing there watching her. She loaded it into the buffer and then stepped into the shower. "We can see that." I licked my lips as I watched her silhouette through the glass door.

"Was Optimus really that hard on you?" Sunny asked as he watched her through equally heated optics.

"Yes and no… I mean, he wasn't happy about it but what can he really do? She didn't press charges, and it wasn't even her who identified me. All he could really do was yell at me and tell me how disappointed he was with me."

I winced. "Ouch… Who knew Boss Bot had it in him?"

"Oh he does… especially with me… He has high expectations for how I should act, and I really disappointed him by beating up a civilian. It goes against everything he's ever taught me."

"Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself though Princess. Storm kept harassing you and you did well to hold out as long as you did. I mean look at Sunny! If somebot so much as looks at him wrong, or kicks up a speck of dust onto his armor he loses his processor and knocks them out cold! You could be like him!"

My twin glared at me. "I don't knock everybot that does that out!"

"Name one time that you didn't knock somebot out for scuffing your paint or looking at you weird!"

He pointed at the shower, where Athena was peeking out at us. "She ran into me and scuffed my paint the first day we met and I didn't knock her out!"

"Because you don't hit femmes Sunny. If she had been a mech, she… he would be missing his helm right now."

He just grunted. "Frag you Sides!"

"Nope! But I might jump into the shower and join our femme!" Athena squeaked when I stripped my armor and lunged towards the shower, "INCOMING!" I yelled, only to yelp when I slammed face first into the shower door that she'd suddenly slammed in my face. My frame fell to the floor with a clatter. "Princess why did you slam the door in my face?!"

I heard the door open and looked up at her sheepish expression. "Sorry Sides… I just… you startled me and it was kind of a reflex reaction."

"Don't apologize Athe, the idiot deserves it."

"Do not!"

"Yes you do."

I scowled at him while he stood there looking smug. "Why are you even in here again? You're just standing there like an idiot! Don't you have something to be doing right now?!"

"No."

I smacked him over the bond to remind him of what he was supposed to be doing today. **(You're supposed to be doing sketches for the crown we're going to make her!)**

 **(Why can't I do that later?! It's not like we've proposed to her and she's accepted yet!)**

 **(Aren't you supposed the perfectionist? Don't you want to have something that's going to be flawless and perfect for her? I'm pretty sure that you were the one that's spent the last deca-cycle obsessing over the details! Now you don't want to work on it when you have a free moment?)**

 **(You just want her to yourself you fraggin' afthole!)**

 **(Pit yes I do! You got your one on one time with her and I want mine! Now get outta here and work on those sketches! You can have her after!)**

 **(Fine!)** With that he stormed out of the wash racks.

It left Athena staring at the door in confusion, before she turned towards me with a small frown on her full lips. "Why did he leave?"

I got up and stepped into the shower with her. "He had some things to take care of so you two will have to have your time later. That's if you don't mind having just me for now?" I gave her a devilish grin and advanced on her.

She slid back under the spray with a sway of her full yet lithe hips. "I don't mind. It's just that I normally have both of you attacking me at any given time, so I'm not used to having just a twosome anymore…" Her lips split into a smile that was a perfect meld of shy and coy, and to further add to the effect her cheeks slowly lit up with a delicate blush.

How could any femme be such a perfect meld of adorable, beautiful, and innocently seductive? Sure, she sometimes tried and succeeded in seducing us without that shy air to her, but most of the time she had this innocent look to her even when she was trying not to. It absolutely turned me on a thousand times more than even the most skilled pleasurebots could. And now she was directing that look at me… and it drove me fragging wild!

"Princess…" I purred as I cornered her against the wall.

She stared up at me through half lidded optics. "Yes Sides?"

"You promised to give me something a while ago, and you haven't done it yet…"

The blush on her cheeks intensified even further as she averted her optics and nodded shyly. "Yes I did, didn't I?"

I leaned in and ran my lips over her throat cables sensuously. "Mm hmm. I've been patiently waiting for it."

She ran her servos down my chassis and over my abdominals slowly. "Is this your way of telling me that you want me to do it now?"

"Please?"

Denta peeked out from behind her upper lip and bit down on her full lower lip, blush intensifying as she nodded and slowly knelt down in front of me. She settled onto her knees and eyed my spike, looking up at me nervously after a moment. "I… I've only done this a few times so… I hope it's good enough."

I smiled reassuringly at her. "Sunny's never complained about it so you must be doing something right." My servo slid down and stroked between her chevron gently, but she still looked nervous and unsure of herself. "Don't be nervous Princess. I'll love this because you're doing it."

She smiled nervously at me, but moved in to kiss the tip of my spike while staring up at me earnestly. Those plump lips spread, delicate glossa sweeping out to wet them and in doing so brushing against me as she slid forward and slowly engulfed what she could of my length.

My helm fell back against the wall I was leaning against, a groan escaping me as she gave a tentative suck and a stroke of her glossa along the length of my spike. I sat still while she repeated this a few more times, watching her when she raised a servo and gently stroked what she couldn't fit in her mouth.

After a klik or so she started bobbing her helm up and down, making me groan when she alternated between doing that and sucking the tip each time she ascended again. What she couldn't take in she stroked fervently, moving her servo in a sideways squeezing motion each time she moved up to meet the downward bob of her helm.

I moaned and stroked the back of her helm with each pass she made. She was obviously not the most experienced femme due to the shyness she exuded, but she more than made up for that with how fervent her attentions were. It felt awesome. "More Princess…"

She looked up at me through half lidded optics, pace increasing until I was unable to attempt to hold back the loud grunts and moans escaping me. The feeling of her tightening her mouth, twisting her glossa around my length, and sucking so hard that my optics flashed, was going to be my undoing.

"Princess… Just a little bit more…!" I groaned when I felt my abdomen tightening in pre-overload.

Shifting forward, she used both servos to stroke me as she sped up, bobbing, sucking, and stroking harder. I shuddered violently when I felt my overload about to sweep through me.

"Ati! Primus!"

All it took for me to finally lose it was a sharp nip to the sensitive area right at the very tip, and I lost it, snarling her designation as my transfluid shot down her throat. Throughout my hips thrusting harshly she kept working me to draw it out for as long as possible, not stopping until I finally slumped against the wall.

I slid down onto my aft while she was busy licking her lips and digits to clean my fluids off of them. It was incredibly hot to watch…

Once she was finished sucking the remnants of my pleasure off her digits she slid closer on all fours. "Was it ok?" She asked shyly.

"It was fragging awesome Princess. Now c'mere!" I reached out and tugged her onto my lap.

For some reason she ducked her helm and her blush intensified further. "Sides?"

"Yeah?"

"Um… c-could I… um… could you…"

I tilted her helm back and stared her straight in the optics. "There's no need to be nervous Princess. You can say or ask me anything you want ok?"

She bit her lip and pressed her face against my throat cables, nuzzling them with a soft purr which I fully returned with one of my own. "Can I… be… on top?"

Well I didn't really expect that… Not that I was against the idea, in fact I actually liked femmes being on top sometimes. It was just that despite her seductively playful moments Athena was still pretty reserved about our berth activities. She'd never asked for something like this… Well… I wasn't going to tell her no.

I moved and laid down on my back without letting go of her. She looked up at me with a face that was completely blue, as in her normal pristine bright silver was stained with her massive blush.

"Sides…"

Using my servos, I moved her so that she was sitting up and straddling my waist. "You don't have to ask me Princess. I'll let you take control of our berthroom… or wash rack activities sometimes." I smiled reassuringly.

"I've… never…"

"I know, but that's ok Princess. Just don't be worried about doing something wrong because I'll guide you through this ok?"

She nodded and raised herself up to take my spike inside her tight, wet heat. I grabbed her hips with a groan, helping her ease herself down onto my length micron by painstaking micron. Her tight walls just clamped down on me so perfectly, and she was so hot that I was in heaven.

As soon as she finished taking me in she stilled as if she really didn't know what to do next. I smiled, and lifted her up, then brought her back down onto my length, moaning as she whimpered and shuddered violently. "Just move up and down Love…"

She nodded and started thrusting herself up and down at a moderate pace. Her servos drifted over every part of me that she could reach as she whimpered and moaned with each move she made, the sounds mixing in with my own elated groans.

"Gyrate your hips when you thrust back down Princess…" I instructed, and showed her what I meant on her next descent. And oh that felt fragging amazing…!

She quickly picked up the motion on her own, making sure to do it on every single descent onto my length. A quick flash of her bright silver denta biting down on her plump lower lip, as she moaned and increased her pace substantially. "Sides… please!"

Taking her desperate hint, I reached up and ran my servos over her chassis, making her keen loudly in time with her hips starting to ram down on mine. My helm fell back with my loudest moan yet, servos pinching and tweaking at her chassis more insistently.

All of a sudden she leaned down and pressed her lips against mine in a hungry kiss, glossa lashing out at my lips until I opened up and let her inside so that I could devour her ever increasing cries of pleasure. She undulated her entire frame against mine, moving in such a way that I saw stars bursting within my optics.

I broke away from our kiss to lean down and circle the nodules on her chassis with my glossa, prompting her to suddenly cry out and slam her hips down on mine with such force that it hurt. A grunt escaped me, but I grabbed her aft and moved her faster, simultaneously alternating between her nodules as her walls started fluctuating around my length.

She clawed at my helm, keening louder and louder the closer she drew to the precipice of her release. I kept hold of her aft with one servo, then slid the other between us to roughly attack her external node, which finally had her tensing with a screech as her overload tore through her with overwhelming force. Her hips started ramming down on mine, bangs echoing from the metal striking metal.

My abdomen tightened with my own overload, and then the tension holding it back snapped and it flooded through me when the femme above me reared back and screamed my designation at the ceiling.

"ATHENA!" I yelled out, followed by a choked snarl as my spike erupted inside her like a geyser.

She rode both of our overloads out, falling down on top of me after both of them had passed. "Sides… oh Sides…"

I kissed her helm sluggishly, feeling lethargic and just plain sated after that. "I love you Princess…"

"I love you too Sides."

* * *

R&R! Gonna cut it off there because there's not really anything else I need to cover in this one! Until next time!


	34. Chapter 34: Amongst the Crystal Flowers

Yay! I'm really excited for this chapter! It's been in the works for a while and I couldn't wait to do it any longer! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! I'm spazzing out right now! Anyways I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I sat on a stool in front of my easel working on redoing the painting for Sunny that had been destroyed all those deca-cycles ago when somebot broke into my apartment. It wasn't exactly the same as it was then, but I couldn't help that I was seeing it differently this time around. If anything the colors of the crystal flowers were more vibrant and multi-faceted than I'd previously portrayed. I wanted to capture the details all more perfectly now that I had a second chance to do this.

Due to the stress I'd been under lately, It'd been a while since I'd actually sat down and worked on anything. It was actually a good way to relieve the tension I was feeling at present…

Tension that was brought on by the fact that my mechs had been pulling longer shifts at work lately, and then afterwards they'd disappear for at least a joor or two, before finally coming home. Neither looked like anything of importance happened while they were out… but I couldn't help but to worry…

Maybe they… were messing around with another femme? Cee seemed to think that they'd cheat on me at any given opportunity… No! They wouldn't do that to me! They'd promised me that they'd be good to me and faithful! I trusted them!

But what were they doing when they were out after work?

I stalled in my painting, staring at the canvas blankly as my muse for the day just seemed to evaporate into nothing. For a few moments I continued staring at the canvas in the hopes that it might come back, but when a breem went by with nothing happening I truly gave up for the day and sat my brush down.

Pushing myself up from the stool, I turned my easel so that it was facing the wall and nobot would be able to see it without moving it. Once that was done I turned and made my way into the living room to let Sparky and Topaz out of their cages.

Both clambered up onto my shoulder and sat there clicking at me as I went about cleaning their cages. Sides had forgotten to do Topaz's yesterday so it was an absolute mess! I was going to chew him out for it when he got home too!

"That mech… he's always so forgetful isn't he Tophie?"

Topaz cocked her helm at me from where she was perched on the farthest part of my shoulder. It seemed like she was agreeing with me.

I giggled at her and patted her tiny helm gently. "Your Opi is a bad Opi right? He forgot to take care of you yesterday! Bite him when he gets home!"

She just stared at me as I dumped the waste from the cages into the receptacle, then I made my way into the storage closet to grab their food and treats so that I could refill their trays. Both perked up when I put their sweet pellets in their treat dish, and they scurried into… Sparky's cage and proceeded to fight over his tray.

"Topaz you have your own treats!" I admonished her and plucked her up to put her in her own cage. "Bad little femme! You know how Sparky gets about his treats! Why do you keep trying to steal them?"

She ignored me and dug into her sweet pellets. Little brat…

With a sigh I turned and looked around the living room for something to do. The floors needed to be scrubbed and swept, there were old energon cubes on the table that Sides hadn't taken care of, and he'd thrown a pile of trash on top of one part of the entertainment center.

I moved to the closet and pulled out the mop and vacuum cleaner with a huff. "That mech and I are going to have a talk about him being such a slob!" I huffed moodily as I turned the vacuum on and started sweeping the floor clean of dust and debris that had been brought in.

Ugh! Why couldn't Sides use the mat in front of the door to wipe his peds on? Sunny and I were good about making sure we did that so that the floors didn't get trashed, but Sides just trudged in here with sludge all over his peds and got it everywhere!

For the next joor I practically crawled all over every inch of the floors in the housing unit, sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing the spots that wouldn't come up easily. I threw the trash Sides left scattered all over the place away, in the berthroom and wash racks as well. Then I washed the tables and counters, threw the blankets from the berth into the wash, then scrubbed that down as well, before making it back up again. I washed the dishes and set them up to dry, organized the energon and storage cabinets, and tidied up Sides' games, and Sunny's art supplies.

I was just finishing the last of it up when I heard Sides call out from downstairs. "Princess! We're home! Where are you?"

"Coming!" I made my way downstairs and froze as soon as I made it to the entryway.

Sunny was standing there scowling at the floor and walls which were covered in splotches of bright yellow sludge. It appeared that the streaks on the wall were servo prints…

My gold mech looked up at me when I made a low pitched, growling hiss. "Um… Athena… are you ok?"

My optic ridge twitched. "I… floors… walls… just cleaned them… and they're dirty again…"

Sides' popped out of the prep room, covered helm to ped in bright yellow sludge, with a cube of energon pressed to his lips, which he was smiling around. A smile that only widened when he finished the contents and tossed the cube over his shoulder without a care. "Princess! We missed you while we-!"

"SIDES!" I all but exploded mid-sentence, lunging forward with an angry screech that had him reeling back like Unicron himself was about to eat him. A thundering growl escaped me as I stormed over to the wall where I'd left the mop propped up, grabbed it, and smacked him over the helm with the handle of it.

"OW! WHAT THE SLAG WAS THAT FOR ATI?!"

"I JUST SCRUBBED THIS PLACE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AND YOU TRASHED EVERYTHING IN FIVE ASTROSECONDS! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO BE PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS AND BE CONSIDERATE FOR ONCE?!" Each angry shriek was accentuated by a well-placed smack.

My red mechfriend reeled back away from me, turning and running towards the living room. He didn't even make it a step before I lashed out and grabbed his audio horn and yanked him back. "PRINCESS! YOU'RE BEING MEAN!"

I yanked until he was optic level with me, mine twitching madly with my ire. "Sides… I just spent over a joor cleaning this place from top to bottom and then you come in and trail sludge everywhere! You throw your trash wherever when there's a waste receptacle less than two steps away from you! How considerate is that?!"

He pouted. "But Princess! The sludge wasn't my fault! There was an accident and a waste disposal vehicle crashed and Sunny used me as a living shield to protect himself from the splatter!"

"Sides… You could've been more careful about what you were touching when you came in! You just smeared sludge everywhere and that was your fault! So you know what you're going to do?"

"What?"

"You're going to go upstairs and wash your entire frame off, then you're going to come down here and scrub the floors and walls until they shine! And from now on you're going to use the mat to wipe your peds on before you come inside! Do you hear me?!"

His entire frame slumped like a petro puppy that'd just been reprimanded. "But Princess…"

I leaned in closer and hissed at him dangerously. "Unless you want to go so long without interface that you forget what a valve feels like, you will do as I say. Do you hear me?"

He nodded so fast it was almost comical.

"Good. Now go upstairs and clean yourself up. I don't want to see a drop of sludge anywhere in this housing unit within the next joor!" With that I let go of him and shoved him towards the stairs. "Now go!"

He practically sprinted up the stairs without a backwards glance.

I huffed derisively, then turned and slowly ambled passed Sunny who was staring at me with wide optics. Instead of paying much attention to him I plopped down on the couch and leaned back to relax my stiff and aching joints.

My other mech came in and sat down next to me, placing a warm servo over my thigh. "You ok?"

"Yes… I just get frustrated with the way he just makes a mess without thinking of who has to clean it up! It's just… I love that mech, and he can be so considerate of me, but then he goes and does things like this and I wanna smack him for it!"

Sunny chuckled. "You did smack him."

I smacked his arm. "You know what I meant!"

"I do, but it was funny to see his reaction to you beating him with that mop!"

"You would think it was funny."

"Oh I did. That threat was even funnier though! I've never seen my twin run so fast before!"

"You're being horrible right now Sunny!"

"You have no idea how horrible I can be love."

My spark fluttered, practically throwing itself against its' casing for reasons that I couldn't understand. It wasn't unpleasant or anything, but it was growing more frequent. I wasn't a specialist when it came to things that could affect the spark, so I wasn't sure what was causing it. Maybe I should talk to Uncle Ratchet and see if he knew what was wrong with me?

I tucked myself against his side and his arm came down to wrap around my shoulders. My thoughts wandered to where they'd been disappearing to over the last few quartexes, and I had the inkling to ask about it. But I wasn't sure how he'd take that, or if I'd get a real answer. I didn't want to seem like one of those really insecure femmes that were always worried about what their mech, or mechs in this case, were off doing. At the same time though I did find myself wondering about it despite how I tried not to let it get to me.

"You're thinking too hard about something again Athe."

"Mm… I can't help it."

He stroked my thigh and nudged me to get me to look up at him. "What are you thinking about?"

I bit my lip and started drawing lazy patterns on his middle. "I just… was wondering where you and Sides have been disappearing to lately. It's been lonely here without you two."

"Ah, I see."

"Yes. I wanted to ask you two but I was worried you might think I was being too overbearing so I didn't."

"We wouldn't have told you anyways." He responded bluntly.

I felt my optics widen. "Oh ok…" With that I went back to twiddling my digits together in my lap. That kind of hurt that he was so callous about it, but then again this was Sunny and that's just how he was sometimes.

An aggravated sigh escaped him. "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's ok."

"No it's not. I didn't mean to come off as such an aft when I said that."

I shrugged. "Like I said, it's ok."

He didn't say anything for over a breem and a half, just sat there silently brooding for some reason. Then he suddenly slid a servo under my chin and tilted my helm back so that I could see his uncharacteristically soft optics. "What I was trying to say is that Sides and I wouldn't have told you what we were doing, because we were setting up an outing for you tomorrow night. We wanted to keep it a surprise, but hey we have to ask you out on it sometime right?"

Before I could answer him Sides came rushing into the room with only a towel on his waist. "Sunny you aft! You weren't supposed to tell her anything until we both asked her!"

Sunny scowled at his twin. "Yes, but you decided to take forever in the shower you aft! And I technically haven't asked her to do anything yet!"

Sides in no way looked appeased by that if the angry scowl was any indication. "Yeah but you sprang the surprise and ruined it! We were supposed to tell her together you jerk!"

My golden mech made a sweeping motion towards me with his arms. "Well since you're so slagged off about it why don't you ask her for both of us since I haven't asked her anything yet!"

"There's no reason for you to be fighting over this! Sunny didn't ask me anything!"

Sides just pouted. "I wanted to surprise you too… Now you already know too much and it's not a surprise anymore."

I just sighed at him. "Sides he didn't tell me anything really. Why don't you just calm down and let's all talk about whatever you're both going on about?"

He plopped down on my other side with his arms crossed over his bare chassis, and that same pout still on his lips. I slid over and crawled up onto his lap to get him to stop being such a pain, which seemed to lift his spirits a little bit if the small smile that spread across his lips meant anything. If that didn't tell me enough the sudden tight embrace he trapped me in was answer enough.

"Sides!"

"We're taking Princess out tomorrow night!" He sang obnoxiously.

"How was that any better than what I said idiot? That wasn't even really asking her!"

"Shut up Sunny! We set up a special night out for Princess! Now all we need to know is if she wants to go with us!"

Ok… this was the weirdest instance of somebot asking me out on a date that I'd ever experienced. Then again it was Sides so obviously I should've expected it. They did know that I wasn't going to say no right? So there was no real reason for Sides to break out into a song in order to ask me… "Um Sides…?"

He just continued singing his song without even paying me a bit of attention.

I looked at Sunny and he just reached out and smacked Sides over the helm which put an end to the song by making him yelp. Once Sides had quieted down and resorted to glaring at his twin as he rubbed the small dent on the back of his helm, Sunny turned towards me. "Since Sides is an idiot I'll ask you myself; Do you want to go out with Sides and I tomorrow night?"

"Of course I will. You act like you thought I might say no!"

He shrugged. "It's always a possibility I guess."

"I would never say no to you unless I had a good reason to."

Sides jumped up off the couch and spun me around in circles. "DATE NIGHT! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Somehow during this his towel came off and exposed himself… while the curtains were open and the window was still open, just as a carrier and her creation were walking by.

I felt my face erupt in a massive blush… "SIDES! PUT YOUR TOWEL BACK ON! THERE'S SOMEBOT WALKING BY THE WINDOW!"

"I DON'T EVEN CAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Idiot!

* * *

 **(Next night- Athena's POV)**

Flareup had just left after coming over at my request to help me get ready for my date with the twins. Now I stood staring at the face paint she'd applied to my optics, which consisted of the same soft gold over my optic shutters as my accent color, and lining my optics was a sunburnt orange to make it pop as she'd said. My armor had been polished to a beautiful shine, and she'd made sure to apply a thin coat of wax as well.

Ok… even I had to admit that I looked nice… I think? Never had I ever done myself up so extensively before. Would the twins even like it? Or had we gone too far?

I rubbed my servos together nervously, door wings spreading out like umbrellas. "Oh… do I really look nice?"

A knock came at the wash racks door. "Princess are you done in there? Flareup left a breem ago and we've gotta get to the restaurant before they give our space away to somebot else!"

"I-I… can't come out!" I stammered nervously.

"What do you mean you can't come out?" That was Sunny.

I cupped my cheeks and had a full on panic attack from staring at my own reflection! "I just can't! Flareup put face paint on me and it looks weird!"

"Athena I'm sure you look fine now open the door. We have to leave soon otherwise they'll cancel our reservations at Sarosis and give our booth away."

"No!"

There was a moment of silence in which I thought maybe they'd given up and left me to fret over my appearance, but then the lock clicked and the door slid open. I turned with a small shriek and covered my face with my servos.

I felt one of them come around in front of me and grab onto my wrists. "Femme you're being ridiculous right now." Sunny sighed as he tried prying my servos off of my face.

"No I'm not!"

"Let go Athena."

"No!"

"Sides help me out here."

All of a sudden I was being tickled mercilessly and my first reaction, as they were probably well aware of, was to lower my arms and start batting at the servos dancing across my sides while I started giggling like mad. "STOP!"

Just as quickly as it started it cut off and Sides was holding me by the waist while Sunny studied my face. Scrap! I'd just done the exact thing I didn't want to do! I could die! I could drop dead right here and just… GAH!

He cocked his helm and stared intently at me, one servo rising up to trail a digit over my optic shutter as if he could feel the texture of the paint that had been applied to it. My cheeks exploded all over again as I tried ducking my helm to hide my face again, but he held me still so that I couldn't do that. It had me panicking all over again!

Panic that only increased when Sides slid around in front of me so that he could study my face too. Leaving me feeling like I was being put on display for both of them, which in a way I really was… But Sides just stood there with his helm cocked for a moment just like his twin, then his lips split into a huge grin.

"You look absolutely stunning Ati. I mean normally you're beautiful, but the color of the paint scheme Flareup applied to your optics really makes those beautiful bright blue pools pop! I could just…"

Sunny smacked him over the back of the helm before he could perv out on me. "What Sides is trying to say is that you look gorgeous. Now let's go before we miss our reservations."

With that he latched onto me and all but dragged me out of the house while Sides skipped along beside us with the biggest grin I'd ever seen on his face in the time I'd known him. When we got outside I was instructed to transform and drive between them until we got to our destination.

They were silent during the drive to Sarosis, which was a very expensive and upscale restaurant in downtown New Iacon. I was surprised they were taking me on a date there of all places, but it was actually somewhere that I'd always wanted to go after hearing about how much Danni liked it when Opi took her there.

It only took us a few kliks to get there. I stared at the expansive crystal garden that stretched on in front of the restaurant, made up of every color of crystal flower known to Cybertron at least. There were two large white marble dragon fountains that spread up and towered over the gardens, spraying streams of bright blue mercury from their mouths.

The building itself was made of white marble as well, large stone columns stretching from the steps to the ceiling like a depiction of an ancient colosseum. I was in absolute awe of this place, so much that I could barely look away as we all transformed and my mechs led me inside. I was actually disappointed that I couldn't admire the architecture anymore…

Sides chuckled when I pouted. "Aww c'mon Princess! You can take some still photos of the outside when we leave! For now, you should focus on us!"

I nodded distractedly, optics now roaming over the inside of the place as well. The floors weren't made up of stone or marble, instead they were made up of a pristine blue crystal that reflected the light of the glowing crystal flowers placed periodically in planters around the lobby, which was teeming with bots milling about. They had a large bar located in the far corner of the lobby, and a dance floor that was just opposite of that. Tables were placed on a raised platform, and waiters and waitresses were flitting about to take orders from the occupants.

I expected to be led over to one of those tables, but the twins led me over to a small podium where a regal looking Praxian mech was standing. He looked up at us when we approached, bright blue optics locking in on me as his door wings twitched up once in greeting, which I returned with a hesitant flick of my own. "Do you three have a reservation?"

"Yes we do. It's under Sunstreaker."

He looked down at his list. "Ah yes Sunstreaker, party of three for one of the private booths. Right this way please." With that he turned and led us up two flights of ornately decorated staircases, into a corridor that seemed to stretch on endlessly and was just as beautifully adorned, and down it until he stopped in front of a door. "This is your private booth. If you need to order anything there is a console on the table, and one of our waitresses will bring your order up in a timely manner."

I just… couldn't believe that they rented out one of these rooms! They cost a small fortune!

The reason for that became apparent when they led me inside a room that had a large circular booth that could easily fit at least a dozen bots, and was made of some imported cloth like material that felt exquisite to the touch. There was a lounge sitting just next to a large stained glass window, next to a table piled high with energon-goodies.

I was in absolute awe… I couldn't even think straight as they had me sit down in the middle of the booth, which made me feel dwarfed with how far the table stretched out in front of me… I could probably lay flat out, helm to ped, at least two or three times to reach the other side!

My processor was racing, spark thrumming rapidly in my chassis. "You two… these rooms cost a small fortune!"

Sunny, who had settled on my right side, simply raised an optic ridge at me. "Yes we know that Athe."

I gaped at him. "You didn't have to take me here! I would've liked to go anywhere with you two! How much of your paychecks did you sink into this date?!"

"It's not that expensive Princess."

I spun on Sides and gave him the look. "Sides my creators come here all the time! I know how fragging expensive it is!"

He waved me off. "You my beautiful Goddess, are well worth it. Now what do you want to eat first?"

Primus above I was fragging befuddled and flattered and… I don't even know! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect them to bring me here of all places!

Sides scooted closer and slung an arm around my shoulder as he grabbed the console on the table and pulled it closer so that we could look the menu over. "They have a lot of things here that I haven't even heard of before! I kind of want to try the frozen mercury cream! How about you? Wanna share some with me?"

I just nodded dumbly, unable to speak or think really. I was just so taken aback by the thoughtfulness and planning they had put into this date.

"Cool! You want me to order you anything else Love?"

"Sweet energon?"

He typed that into the console as well, then angled it so that I could look it over. "You can have anything your little spark desires Princess so feel free to go crazy."

There were so many things on the menu that I'd never even seen or heard of before… All sorts of different frozen creams, mercury, potassium, rust stick, zirithium… There was something called Eton Mercures, which I had absolutely no idea what it was, other than the fact it was a desert. They had cakes, shakes, flavored high-grade, mixers, and just about anything else I could think of.

"Can you order me some high-grade Athe?"

"Sure." I typed that in, then turned towards Sides expectantly. "Do you want some too? I'm not going to drink because I want to remember anything that happens tonight. You two know how I get when I drink."

He smirked. "You my femme get crazy when you drink! I love it! As for ordering me some high-grade, get me a rust stick mixer instead. I want to stay sober for tonight too."

"Ok. So Sunny, is that all you want?"

"Add some rust cake on there too babe."

I quickly added that on, and some Eton mercures for me, and sent the order out. Afterwards I leaned back against the cradle both mechs were making with their arms, reveling in the heat they were putting off with their frames. I opted not to fret over the lengths they went to tonight, instead leaning into Sunny and curling my legs up rest on Sides' lap. They in turn cuddled closer to me, Sunny resting his chin on top of my helm, and Sides wrapping his arms around my waist as he laid his helm on my shoulder.

After a moment I turned a playful glare up at both of them. "I don't know whether to smack you two for sinking so many credits into one date, or to kiss you senseless because of how perfect it is."

Sides grinned devilishly. "Oh I will definitely take being kissed senseless Ati!"

I flicked him in the fore-helm playfully. "Noooooooooooo!"

He wriggled his way up my frame, making kissy faces at me. "Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!"

I pushed his face away with a giggle. "Sides stop that!" All of a sudden he turned and licked my servo, making me jerk back with a squeal. "SIDES!"

Taking the opportunity, he sat up and pounced on me, pinning me against Sunny as he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine with surprising gentleness. He put his servos on my waist and rubbed up along my sides while gently moving his lips over mine. It was overwhelmingly sweet and tender, without lust or desperation.

I sighed softly at the feeling, running my right servo down over his chassis and feeling the low pitched purr rumbling through the plating there. Then he slowly slid his glossa over my lower lip and I opened up to allow it to slip inside and tangle with mine in a slow, loving dance. Twining together unhurriedly, lapping at each other, sliding alongside one another.

We kept going like this until Sunny grunted impatiently, reminding me that he was the one my back was currently pressed against. I pulled away from Sides and gave him one last chaste kiss, before I sat up and turned to lean in and bequeath his twin with the same affection. Sunny was as gentle and loving about it as his twin was, which was surprising. He kissed me slowly, lovingly, meaningfully. All while he held me against him like I was a precious treasure he was scared that somebot would snatch away at any moment.

Whatever had gotten into them was causing both to make me feel like some pampered Princess. I wasn't sure that I disliked it all too much either… It was actually kind of nice even if I wasn't used to it.

A knock at the door had us pulling apart in time for a waiter to come in with an ornate tray containing our order. He sat it down wordlessly, bowed, then back out the door without once meeting our optics. Ok so that was a little bit off-putting that the waiters and waitresses acted like we were royalty and we were going to remove their optics for looking at our faces…

"That was a little weird." Sides muttered as he pulled the tray closer and passed out our rations.

"Agreed." I muttered while I took a spoon and took my first bite of the Eton mercures, which happened to look like a hunk of mercury cake with some strange red drizzle on it. The sweet taste of mercury burst across my glossa, mixed with a sweet yet somewhat bitter flavor. I honestly had no idea what it was, but it tasted really good.

Sides pushed his bowl towards me. "Wanna try some of this Princess?"

I dipped my spoon in and shoveled some into my mouth… and oh it was divine… It was perfectly sweet, but they had added some rust spice to it and it gave it a nice kick! My door wings fluttered as I emitted an excited squeal.

Sunny chuckled at me mid-way through his rust cake. "Does it taste that good?"

I nodded without pausing in devouring Sides' mercury cream. "Mm hmm!"

"Hey! You're not sharing Princess!"

All I did in response was shove my bowl at him as I snatched his which made him pout at me. "I love you Sides! Thanks for letting me steal your goodies!"

My red mech just shrugged and leaned his cheek on top of my helm. "Eh, I don't mind Princess. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

My spark warmed and fluttered strongly, making me blush as I leaned into them both with a sigh. I loved these mechs…

* * *

Ok it was official… these two were masters of romantic outings…

First we had that wonderful dinner at Sarosis in which they'd treated me to anything I wanted and lavished me with kisses and every manner of affection short of full on intimacy. After that they'd brought me to the crystal garden where Sunny had taken me when he'd first kissed me and I passed out in the fountain.

I felt so spoiled walking down the gem encrusted walkway with a mech hanging off of each side of me, Sides hugging me around the waist, while Sunny had an arm wrapped around my shoulders. They were being so sweet that I honestly was about to just kiss them both senseless!

"So Princess…" Sides started as we sat down on the same bench that Sunny and I had sat on during our first visit here.

"Yes Sides?"

"How are you liking our date so far?"

I leaned my helm against his chassis and sighed dreamily. "It's perfect."

"You know what would make it even better?"

I looked up at him expectantly. "What?"

He smiled widely. "Presents! Sunny and I got you two gifts!"

"Gifts…? Sides you two didn't have to get me anything! This date was already more than enough to make me happy!"

My response didn't seem to deter him at all, and instead of heeding it he reached into his subspace and pulled out a bouquet of bright crystal flowers, some of which were a myriad of different shades of blue, while others were bright pink, purple, and yellow, all wrapped in gold binding.

He handed it to me and I cradled it against my chassis tenderly. "These are beautiful! When did you have a chance to get them? You've been with us the whole time!"

He winked at me playfully. "I snuck off when Sunny distracted you by kissing you senseless. You were so into it that you didn't even notice Princess."

Each flower seemed to glow from within, casting different hues of colors off of me and the area around us. I gently felt each crystal petal with exaggerated slowness, while my spark practically screamed for me to just ravage these two for their thoughtfulness! The sheer amount of romanticism had put me in a major mood for some intimacy and I had an overwhelming need to merge with them on every level.

I sighed as my need for them spiked more strongly. "Ok I love all of this… but can we go back home now? All this romanticism has put me in the mood for a night long merge fest."

Instead of jumping at the chance they both exchanged a look with one another, that had me staring at them in confusion. Normally they would sweep me up and race to the nearest vacant area and ravage me until I couldn't think straight. But here they were after I'd admitted that I really wanted it, and they were too busy staring at each other!

After a moment both looked back at me with a hint of nervousness in those dark blue optics. Then they surprised me further by moving to kneel in front of me, each taking one of my servos in each of theirs. Sunny looked up at me with a nervous smile, which was so uncharacteristic on him…

"Before we do that… we have another gift to go with the bouquet…"

I felt my spark stall out when he pulled a dark blue box with a bright white bow on top. Was… no! There was no way that they were…

They moved in tandem, Sunny steadying the box so that Sides could slowly open the lid which revealed a sapphire dephronite that had the surface engraved to look like a crystal rose. Oh Primus… it was absolutely gorgeous!

I dropped the bouquet I was holding when Sides pulled my servo up to kiss the back of it, which was promptly when I got the gist of what was about to happen. It was all I could do not to suddenly start tearing up because I was so unexpectedly surprised at this moment!

Then Sunny repeated what his twin had done and kissed the back of my other servo too. He trailed his lips over my knuckle joints sensuously, before he pulled back and looked me dead in the optics, and not just him but Sides too. When they next spoke it was as one, perfectly in sync, and unflinching.

"Athena, no femme has ever enraptured us so completely before. We've never been able to love the same femme like we love you, and we never want to try again. With you we have everything we've ever wanted, and everything we never thought we'd have. You meld perfectly with both of us and draw us closer together, and you make us love you even more for that. Before you we never felt as complete as we do right now, and that's something we never want to end. In fact, we couldn't bear to go without you for even a single day now that we've loved you. Our split spark has found its' one true mate in you, the one we love like no other. That's why we brought you here tonight to ask you to sparkbond with us. We want you to be with us as our mate through this life and however many more we may live. If you accept we promise to love you and cherish you from this day forward to the best of our abilities. We promise to give you everything you want and need, be it our unwavering faithfulness, endless affection, and eternal devotion. We love you and we'll never stop. Please accept our proposal and become our sparkmate."

Coolant spilled down my cheeks as I stared at them and the symbol of their love. I nearly choked on the surge of pure elation that coursed through me. Despite all of my secrets, all the things that I was afraid to say… all I wanted in this moment was to accept what they were offering me. I wanted to be with them forever, so that I would never have to face a day without them.

I'd never realized just how deep my own feelings for them were, so trapped in obliviousness as I'd been. Their words about me being their true sparkmate now rang true in my own spark as it sang in its' chamber, reaching out for theirs with an overwhelming desire to form the bond that they so desperately wanted.

I couldn't say no…

So instead I nodded and choked out a simple, "Yes."

"Really?" Sides asked, almost as if he didn't actually believe that I'd said that.

I nodded and cupped a servo over my mouth to prevent myself from crying more.

The smiles that broke out across their faces were brighter than the starts themselves. Sides jumped up and yanked me up to spin us around in a circle while he laughed joyously. "You've just made us the happiest mechs in the universe Princess!"

His joy was infectious and I couldn't resist laughing right alongside him. My emotions were running so strongly right now that I felt like I was walking on air! It was glorious!

He finally slid to a stop in front of the same fountain I'd fainted in before, and pulled me into a heated kiss. "I love you Princess. I'll always love you." He murmured against my lips.

"I love you too Sides… both of you…"

We stared into each other's optics like the rest of the world didn't even exist, but then something was tugging me away from him and I found myself being crushed against a bright gold chassis. I clutched at his shoulders as he took his turn kissing me while swaying us from side to side slowly.

He finally put me down, and together we all sat on the edge of the fountain. "I love you Athe."

I cuddled into both of them as the emotions I was feeling settled to a more bearable thrumming in my spark. It left me feeling unexpectedly drained.

Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise when my optics suddenly became blurry and I pitched backwards? I briefly saw both my intendeds staring at me in surprise, but then my world went black.

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

After a nerve-racking proposal, and the subsequent fainting spell that had taken our intended on a one-way trip into the fountain again, we'd made our way home and gotten her cleaned up. Then once she'd woken up we'd celebrated our engagement with a healthy and long love making marathon that had stretched on for joors.

I was so fragging happy that she'd actually said yes that I couldn't stop making love to her. If it wasn't for her passing right after the last time I'd taken her, we'd no doubt be locked in another intense session right now.

Instead I was curled around her back, while Sides was pressed against the entire length of her front, while she was deep in recharge between us. Even though she was out I couldn't resist kissing every micron of her shoulders, face, and helm that I could reach. She really had made me the happiest mech in the universe, and I didn't even care how sappy that sounded!

For a moment there before she'd said yes, I'd felt afraid that she might actually say no. I'd been afraid that these last few deca-cycles were nothing more than a dream I'd conjured up to fill the emptiness in my spark, and that I'd wake up and find out that she'd never existed. Just how terrifying that thought was proved to me just how deep my feelings for her ran.

She shifted with a soft sigh when I kissed the space between her shoulders and neck, subconsciously turning towards it before she actually rolled onto her other side so that her chassis was pressed against mine. It made me want to merge with her all over again…

I wrapped my arms around her. "I'm never going to let you go Athena…"

Sides kissed her audio and wrapped himself around her again. "Never ever Princess."

Our femme…

Our beautiful soon-to-be mate…

* * *

R&R! OMG I WAS DYING THE WHOLE TIME FROM EMBARRASSMENT! XD! Let me know how you all liked it! Also... not giving out many details but... does anyone have any suggestions for mechs to be paired up with certain characters in the sequel? Drop me some suggestions please!


	35. Chapter 35: We Promise You Don't Have To

I was really happy with the last chapter and how it turned out with the twins being so thoughtful and sweet when they proposed to her. I swear I was fangirling a bit! Anyways there's going to be a lot going on in the next few chapters and I won't spoil any of it for you! This one is a tad bit dark! Also does anyone want to beta this story for me! I need someone to help some with grammar and some minor spelling errors! Let me know! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

It just didn't look right!

Not one fragging sketch of the crown I was trying to design came out the way I wanted it to! I'd been sitting on the couch in my studio, sketching all morning, to absolutely no fragging avail! I wanted something that was perfect for my intended mate, and so far every attempt had been sub-par at best!

What shape would best accentuate her chevron and features? I wanted something that swept under her chevron, but that was about as much as I knew right now! Whenever I tried to work out a full design it ended up… wrong somehow! Athena deserved the absolute best and I couldn't even give her something that was worthy of even touching her!

I was beyond fragging frustrated right now! So fragging slagged off and frustrated that I was about to blow a fraggin' gasket! No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get this right and it was just… aggravating me to no end!

"Fragging inspiration had to leave me right when I really need it!" I cursed quietly. Athena was the only one home besides me, but I didn't want her to get curious and peek in to see what I was doing. Her mating gift was supposed to be a surprise! But at this rate we'd never be able to give it to her, or mate at all, because I couldn't work out what I wanted it to look like!

Maybe I should ask Sides what he thought when he got home? It was a gift from both of us, so we needed to make it together, and his input was important. Not to mention he was actually pretty good at helping me when I was in a slump, and while he wasn't artistically inclined in the same manner Athena and I were, his active processor often inspired me when mine had locked up. He could help me figure something out… hopefully…

I slammed my sketchbook shut and sighed tiredly. "I'll keep working on it later. There's plenty of time…" We hadn't yet chosen a date for our mating yet so as far as I knew at present I had as much time as I needed to work on this. But the sooner Sides and I finished this, the sooner we could actually get on with the actual bonding! I didn't want to slack off and waste unnecessary time! I wanted to be bonded to Athena as soon as possible! Frag… I was just further aggravating myself right now!

With another exaggerated sigh, I stood after putting my sketchbook in my subspace and made my way downstairs to see what my intended was doing. I'd neglected her most of the morning by being so busy with what I was doing, and knowing her she was either playing a game, drawing, or reading something.

At least one of my assumptions proved to be true when I walked in and she was curled up on the end of the couch with her sketchbook in her lap. I was pleased to see her getting back into her art after she'd gone so long being too stressed to even touch it. It hadn't escaped my notice that she was also working on the piece she was going to give me. By instinct my optics drifted away from her, climbing up to the painting of her that I'd hung over the back of the couch. I really needed to do another painting of her now that she'd changed her paint. Or maybe I was entertaining the idea because I loved to stare at her? Yeah probably.

"Sunny?"

My gaze snapped back down to meet the curious one of my intended, who had pushed her sketchbook aside and now had her helm cocked to the side. "Yeah sweetspark?"

Her cheeks slowly burned a steady trail from one end to the other, like they'd taken to doing after I'd started calling her sweetspark. She put her drawing materials away and sat up. "Um, you've just been standing there for a while…"

I shook my helm and sat down beside her. "Sorry sweetspark, I was just a little lost in thought."

"It's ok. I was just worried that your processor had locked up or something." She joked.

A playful growl escaped me as I reached out and tugged her onto my lap. "The day my processor freezes up is the day you'll have to face the dismal prospect of life without me."

She wrapped her arms around my neck and giggled. "And what a dismal prospect it is! Life without my handsome, talented, arrogant, loving mech! I shudder at the very thought!"

"You should be very afraid femme! Now that you have me you'll never want to go back to life without me being in it."

Her small servo came up to stroke my cheek languidly, bright blue optics sparkling with mischief as she further teased me. "Oh definitely not. I would be so sad and lost without you."

"You shouldn't tease me femme." I told her seriously. The way she sometimes acted was enough to drive me crazy with lust, and I still had quite a few ways that I had yet to take her. I still had yet to introduce her to my personal favorite position… which was essential for our bonding night, because I planned to have her on her servos and knees for a large chunk of it.

"What are you going to do if I keep teasing you?" She challenged playfully.

"I'll have to teach you a lesson."

We leaned in to kiss each other, only to suddenly jerk apart when one of the stream gliders shrieked, the sound quickly being followed by a loud crash. Athena turned and her door wings shot up at the sight of one of Sides' speakers laying on the floor, with Sparky chewing on the back of it.

In a move so fast it was barely visible she was up off my lap and across the room. "Sparky no!" She snatched her pet up and carried him back over to his cage. "Oh… Sides is gonna have my aft now! You broke his speaker!"

Sparky just chittered at her innocently as she put him back in his cage and locked the door.

"Don't fret too much Athena. Sides can always go out and buy another one later."

She ignored me in favor of getting down on her knees so that she could look over the damage, and in doing so she shifted onto her servos and perfectly presented her aft for my viewing pleasure. I licked my lips as I eyed her oblivious form hungrily. My sodpiece puffed up when my spike pressurized, pressing against the restraining piece of armor in a desperate attempt to get free and seek out what I so obviously wanted.

Well she was teasing me a moment ago… so obviously she wanted something. Maybe it was high time to give it to her?

I stood up while she was still fretting over the remains of Sides' speaker, slowly approaching her while being careful not to make a sound to alert her to what I was doing. Once I was close enough I got down on my knees and scooted up behind her, then in a lightning fast move I grabbed onto her shoulder with one servo, the other moving down to her valve cover, while I simultaneously ground my covered spike against her aft.

As soon as I touched my sodpiece to her, she suddenly released an audio piercing scream and practically threw herself against the wall in a desperate attempt to get away from me, wings all but snapping down to cover her soft spot. She tripped and nearly fell onto the broken remains of the speaker, some parts stabbing into the breaks in her armor as she scrambled into the corner and pulled her knees to her chassis, only stopping her loud screaming once she was tucked against the wall.

I sat stock still, staring at those wide optics staring back at me, cooper colored coolant spilling over the edges while she sat there shaking and emitting a terrified keening sound. Surprise was coursing through me so strongly that I couldn't do anything other than stare for a few kliks, while wondering what had caused such a reaction in her.

But when her keening suddenly increased in frequency and volume I snapped out of my blank staring and slowly got up to approach her.

I hadn't even made it more than a step when a sudden commotion echoed from the entryway, then Sides came racing into the living room. He'd probably sensed my sudden distress, and what it was caused by, thus the reason he stumbled into the room in a flustered daze.

Unfortunately, the sound startled our intended, or maybe it was my approach that caused her to jump to her peds and shoot up the stairs like a rocket. Either way between one astrosecond and the next she was gone, and we were left staring at the stairs that she'd run up.

Sides whirled on me as soon as she disappeared. **(What the frag was that all about?!)**

 **(I don't know! I just… pressed myself against her aft and she just freaked out!)** If anything I was as confused and lost as he was! More than that, I was concerned about her.

 **(You were trying to frag her doggy style?)**

 **(Yeah. You know how much I like that position! I thought maybe she'd like it too. But obviously not!)**

He shook his helm. **(I'm going to go up and talk to her. Maybe you should give her some space for a few kliks, at least until she calms down.)**

 **(I want to talk to her too!)**

 **(You just scared her for some reason! Just give her a few kliks to calm down before you come up ok? That way I can try and figure out what it was all about!)**

I hated to admit that he was right… **(Fine! Just let me know when she calms down so I can come up!)**

 **(Ok.)** With that he turned and disappeared upstairs as well.

Leaving me standing there next to the remains of the broken speaker that had caused this whole mess…

What did I do wrong this time?

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I couldn't stop remembering now…

The feeling of somebot looming over my back…

Tugging at my wings and valve covering…

Ripping at my soft spot until I couldn't move, but I could still feel every intense, agonizing moment of what was happening.

Feeling something rubbing at my aft as my valve covering was finally ripped off…

No barrier to protect me from what was about to occur…

I slammed his servos against my audios and keened loudly in an attempt to dispel the memories and shove them into the darkest recesses of my processor where I kept them locked up. But no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get them out of my helm, and I couldn't calm the frantic racing of my spark.

It felt like it was trying to jump out of my chassis and run away, while something was literally squeezing the life right out of it! My vents were rattling loudly in the quiet room, along with the clacking of my armor as it shook against my protoform.

I couldn't stop…

He scared me so much when he got up behind me like that… For a klik or so I hadn't even realized that it was him! My processor just conjured up the faces of all those who had hurt me, and it was all I could see or think about.

It wasn't until I was alone that I could even think somewhat clearly. Everything between that and when I found myself in the wash racks was a complete blur of fear, pain, desperation, and disgust. Now I was sitting in the corner of the tub, shaking, crying, and feeling overwhelmed by everything.

Why could I never have a period of consistently good thoughts and emotions? Did something always have to come up and destroy my happiness when I was feeling truly overjoyed with my life? It seemed like whenever something good happened, something bad came along and slapped me across the face and tossed me back into despair.

I just wanted it to all go away…

My helm suddenly shot up when I heard a knock on the wash racks door. "Princess? Can I come in?"

Sides…

For a moment I just sat there debating whether it really was a good idea to let him in when I was like this. It would no doubt raise more questions than were already running through their helms right now. Most of which I didn't want to answer…

Another, more insistent knock came. "Please open the door Ati, otherwise I'll override the lock and come in anyway."

"Just go away Sides!"

The last thing I wanted to do was explain why I'd reacted that way! Why I'd lost control of the memories I was normally so good at repressing, and screamed like that! Or why I'd run away like I did! And if he came in here and asked me I didn't know if I could keep it a secret!

Unfortunately for me no sooner had I told him to go away the soft swishing sound of the door opening was audible, followed by soft ped steps echoing around the otherwise quiet room. I buried my face in my knees and huddled further into the corner I was occupying.

The shower door creaked slightly as it slid open, then I clearly heard my intended step into the tub with me. An astrosecond later his frame invaded my space. He slid in between me and the wall of the tub that was closest to the door.

I tensed minutely when he gently touched my shoulder. "Ati? Love are you okay?"

Was I ok? Could having an onslaught of memories of events that had forever traumatized me be considered ok? Was running away from my intended mate screaming as loud as my vocalizer could handle ok? No! None of it was ok! I hated being reminded of it!

How could everything go from being so perfect to just being ruined in astroseconds?

I cupped my face in my servos and dug my digits into my optic shutters until they started leaking.

Sides quickly yanked them away and pinned my wrists together. "Stop that!" He scolded me with surprising gentleness, but there was still a stern quality apparent in his tone.

My optics started overflowing, coolant raining down far more quickly and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I just couldn't stop thinking about it right now! The last thing I wanted was for my relationship with my intendeds to keep being tainted by memories of my past. I didn't want to compare the things they did to the things _**'they'**_ had done to me when I was younger. I just wanted this relationship to be unclouded by the taint of my past.

But it seemed like that would never happen, and despite how happy being with them made me, it once again made me question whether I was being selfish by staying. I couldn't leave though… I didn't want to… I wanted to be happy and they gave me that.

"C'mere Love." Sides crooned softly, servos gently sliding around my shoulders and under my knees so that he could pull me onto his lap. He cradled me, slowly rocking me back and forth as I started sobbing. "Hey now… you're far too pretty to be crying like this. Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

I buried my face in his shoulder and clutched at him desperately. I felt him switch his hold so that he was cupping the back of my helm, while his other arm wrapped around my waist. He tightened his grip until he was holding me so tightly that I almost couldn't vent properly, but I didn't even care because I felt an immediate sense of relief in having him hold me. Not that it stopped me from crying out of disgust, fear, pain, and guilt. The first three because of what had happened to me, and the last because I never wanted to react that way in front of my intendeds. Logically I knew that they weren't like _**'them'**_ but sometimes certain situations made it hard to keep that knowledge clear in my helm. It made me feel guilty for even grouping Sunny with those bots when he was so much better.

"Look at me Ati." Sides suddenly demanded, and when I didn't comply he cupped my chin and forced me to look up at him. His expression was soft, worried, with a little frown tugging at the edges of his mouth, and optics that were darker than they should be. "What happened down there? Why did you run away from Sunny like that?"

"I'm sorry!" I choked out instead of giving a suitable answer. It was all I could really think to say at the moment.

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed out in desperation, thick streams of coolant cascading from her optics and marring her beautiful face.

I tilted her helm back and wiped away what I could while shushing her. "Don't be sorry! Neither Sunny or I are made at you Princess. We just want to know what's wrong!"

"I-! He-he…!"

"Go on…" I encouraged her gently.

"s-scared m-me!"

"He scared you because he was behind you? Ati, he holds you from behind all the time Princess."

She shook her helm as more coolant spilled from her optics. "N-not like t-hat! I-I don't w-want to interface l-like that!"

So she was afraid of the position in which Sunny had tried taking her, not of him exactly? Normally I might assume that she was afraid because she hadn't tried that position before, and a lot of femmes that Sunny and I had been with were nervous about trying it for the first time, but Athena was clearly different. It didn't take a genius to speculate why she was reacting so badly to it.

The answer was clear in her reaction, and the way she had her legs pressed so tightly together, and her wings were pressed tight against her back to cover her soft spot, while she sat curled up in a ball in my lap. Quite a few things clicked into place in my helm at this moment, and the realization I came to had me fighting back a wave of intense anger. Some bots were really sick…

"Then you don't have to interface like that." I placated her after getting my thoughts in some semblance of order.

She continued sobbing like she didn't even hear me. "Please don't make me!"

Taking her face in my grasp, I forced her to look me right in the optics so she could see just how serious I was being. "Athena, Sunny and I will never, ever, make you do something that you're afraid of, or that you don't want to do. Especially when it's clear that this is something that you're terrified of. As far as I'm concerned you'll never have to worry about this issue with us again. We'll never try taking you that way ok?"

Her optics stayed locked on mine, peering so deeply into them that it was almost like she was looking into my very spark in an attempt to find whatever it was she was looking for. My sincerity maybe? Proof that I really meant that I said when she should've known that I was being absolutely one hundred percent dead serious? Whatever it was she seemed to find it after staring me down for close to a breem.

She nodded shakily, then buried her face into my throat. "Is Sunny m-mad at m-e?"

"No he's not. He's just worried about you." I could quite clearly feel the pulsating waves of anxiety and worry emanating from the other side of our bond. He was extremely agitated and worried about her right now. The only reason he wasn't up here comforting her himself was partially because I hadn't given him the ok, and also because he was afraid that his presence might send her into another round of hysterics.

"I didn't mean to scream at him like that…"

"I know Love. You just startled him a bit, but if you're feeling a little calmer I can have him come up here if you want to talk to him?"

For a moment she tensed, door wings hiking up in a single jerky motion that left them spread high above her shoulders. It made the movement of her bobbing her helm in a single jerky nod that much more pronounced.

"How about I take you back downstairs instead? You could use some energon." She nodded, and I slowly stood up and made my way out of the wash racks with her cradled against me princess style. But I didn't even make it a single step into the hall because Sunny was standing right in front of the door when it opened.

 **(How is she?)**

 **(She's… still upset. But she wanted to see you.)**

He nodded in understanding. "Hey sweetspark…"

Our intended quickly turned and held her arms out for him wordlessly.

Sunny quickly snatched her from me, cradling her in his arms like a newborn sparkling. She quickly buried her face against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hesitated for a moment, before turning and making his way down into the prep room, where he sat down at the table without putting her down. "Are you okay sweetspark?"

"Yes… I was just… you startled me…" She whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok… just please don't do that again…"

He rubbed in between her wings, carefully avoiding her soft spot so as not to set her off again. "Ok. I promise not to."

I leaned against the wall, watching my twin rock her back and forth like he'd never bothered to do with anybot else. The way he handled her still surprised me sometimes. Not that I expected him to be callous with our intended mate, but I didn't expect him to become such a cuddle whore. It warmed my spark to see how loving he was with her, but I was smart enough not to mention it unless I was trying to aggravate him on purpose. If I did he might draw back a bit and that was the last thing I wanted.

My musing was interrupted when our femme's tanks rumbled loudly in the otherwise quiet room. I pushed off the wall to get her a slice of mercury cake and some warm spiced energon. "Here Love. You need to fill your tanks." I sat her plate and cube on the table while Sunny carefully turned her in his lap so that she could eat.

She didn't seem inclined to touch what I'd given her though, instead opting to stare at the tabletop dejectedly.

I pushed her meal closer. "Eat before you collapse from lack of energon Ati."

After a moment of hesitating she picked up her cube and started sipping at it slowly. She turned sideways in my twin's lap and cradled her energon against her chassis, sipping at it periodically while glancing up at Sunny every few astroseconds, only to avert her gaze every time because he'd been nonstop staring at her since I'd stepped out of the wash racks.

I found myself wondering how long he'd hold out before he cracked and asked her what that was all about since I hadn't given him any details about what we'd talked about.

I got my answer when, after only another klik or two of staring her down, he turned her around and pressed them flush against one another. "Athena, please tell me what I did wrong this time. Why did you freak out and run away from me like that?"

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Don't be sorry sweetspark. Just tell me what's wrong! I need to know what that was all about!"

"I didn't mean to scream at you…"

His optic ridges furrowed at the incessant mumbling she'd apparently been reduced to for the moment, then he raised his helm and looked at me for answers. **(What is this? What's wrong with her? Did she tell you anything?)**

 **(Not anything overt, but she was beside herself for a good while. She said she didn't want to interface with one of us taking her from behind, and she didn't even act like she heard me when I said she didn't have to. Instead she started begging me not to make her. I'm sure you can guess why she acted like that based off what she said.)**

From where I stood the way he clutched at her tighter was clearly visible, his lips curling into a dangerous snarl and he all but buried her face against his shoulder so she couldn't see it. **(Her wings snapped down to cover her soft spot when I startled her…)**

 **(She did say that attacking that spot could cause temporary paralysis or overwhelming pain… It looks like she knows from experience…)** The more I thought about it, the angrier I got! Raping a femme was cowardly, disgusting, and something only a weakling would do. But assaulting a femme like Athena by attacking such a sensitive spot so she couldn't even try to defend herself… there weren't words… I was especially worked up over it because we loved her more than anything else.

She was also so sweet and loving, so much that I couldn't even bear the thought of putting a scratch on her myself. But somebot else had, and it filled me with fury like I'd rarely felt before.

 **(I hope I find whoever did that alive so that I can make them suffer unimaginably before I rip their spark out and crush it in front of them while they're still alive and twitching!)**

 **(If he is still alive and we find him, I want to string him upside down from the ceiling by wrapping his internals around his throats and legs, then I want to take my sword and carve into the fragger's interface array… I'm gonna chop his spike off and dangle it in front of his face before dipping it into a pit of acid, then before it's completely dissolved I'll shove it down their throat and watch it melt it from the inside out…)**

 **(But first we need to weld his jaw shut so he can't spit it out.)**

 **(Or punch him in the throat and dent it in so that he can't expel the damn thing!)** I all but cackled over the bond gleefully. Oh whoever that mech was… if we ever found him he'd suffer in ways that would make getting eaten alive by a hoard of scraplets look tame…

 **(Yes…!)**

We would've loved to keep spewing revenge scenarios but a soft whimper from our intended put an end to that quick. When I looked back at her she had raised herself up and was nuzzling her cheek against Sunny's while keening softly, her door wings having drooped from where they were tightly pinned against her back, and were now hanging limply in obvious sorrow.

Sunny cupped her cheeks in his large servos and gently tilted her helm back so that he could stare into her leaking optics. "Please stop crying sweetspark."

"Please don't be mad at me!"

"You didn't do anything to warrant me being angry at you. I'm not mad."

I knelt down next to the chair they were sitting on, gingerly placing a servo on her thigh to get her attention, and once I had it I smiled as reassuringly as I could. "Everything's ok Ati. Sunny's not mad at you, and we won't do that to you ever again ok?"

"Promise?"

"We promise. As your soon-to-be mates it's our job to take care of you, and to respect your wishes. If you don't want to do something we want you to, all you have to do is say no and we'll back off ok? We'll never, ever force you to do anything sexual that you don't want. I mean, sometimes we might want to experiment a bit, and you might even decide that you want to, and that's perfectly ok. But if something ever happens that scares you, or that you don't like just tell us to stop. We'll always listen."

She stared me down, then turned to stare at Sunny.

He nodded. "We'll learn together, at your pace, and only by doing things you feel comfortable with babe."

"Thank you."

"It's no problem sweetspark. Now why don't we put this all behind us and get the living room cleaned up so we can have a movie night? That sound good?"

"Yes."

"I'll go take care of it ok?" With that I stood and made my way into the living room to clean up the shattered remains of my speaker. I gathered the pieces up threw them into a waste bin, then I vacuumed the glass and debris up. All in all, it took maybe five kliks to gets everything back in order.

As I was finishing up I heard somebot enter the room, and when I turned to look I saw Sunny plop down on the couch with Athena still in his grasp. He still had her held tightly to his chassis as he grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her, servo trailing up and down her covered thigh gently. "Are you warm enough?"

She snuggled down against him, helm barely visible over the edge of the blanket. "Yes."

I sat down next to my twin after taking care of my cleaning stuff, quickly taking in how cute she looked cuddling up to Sunny like that. "Awww! You look so adorable hiding under the blankets Princess!" I beamed at her.

Much to my pleasure she glared at me like an angry cyber kitten.

"Now there's that feisty glare I like seeing so much Love!" I scooted closer and all but crawled into Sunny's lap so that I could wrap my arms around her and press our fore-helms together, ignoring Sunny protesting about me scratching his paint. Instead I nuzzled every part of her face and helm that was accessible with a purr. "I love you Princess…"

"I love you too Sides… even if you are a goof."

Sunny chuckled when I gave an affronted gasp. "Tell it like it is babe!"

Her lips spread slightly, and she gifted us with a series of soft giggles. "I did."

He pulled her up so that she was trapped in a tight three-way hug. "Our Queen…"

"Our Goddess…" I murmured.

"And our inspiration…" He finished quietly, and then we quickly took turns giving her loving kisses.

We'd always make sure that we loved her the way she deserved… through thick and thin, good and bad, until we all faded into the Well of Sparks together.

Hopefully after a long life in which we showered her with affection…

* * *

R&R! Couldn't think of another place to end it! XD


	36. Chapter 36: A Ghost from the Past

So for all the people who have followed and favorited me, I want you all to know that I've discontinued the majority of my work. I took down most of my stories and discontinued Shrouded Origins permanently. I have no plans of rewriting it, however I was thinking that I could redo Clare's character and maybe write a new story for her. I'm going to put a poll up asking for ideas on how you all want her to change, and some basic plots that I have. Please check them out. I DO NOT OWN TRASNFORMERS! Some fluffy smut in this one.

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

A few quartexes had gone by since Sunny had scared me senseless that day in the living room, and things had gone back to normal. Well as normal as could be when my intendeds had taken to subtly probing me for information on what I expected on our bonding night. I think they thought they were being sneaky about what they were doing, but I wasn't stupid enough not to know that they were taking notes and they would most likely set up something special for the occasion. I wasn't complaining, it was nice to think that they were at least putting some planning into our special night.

I was actually really excited for it, but nervous at the same time. Bonding meant that we'd all literally become one spark, sharing memories, emotions, and thoughts through an unbreakable link between us. The very idea of a bond used to make me nervous because of the simple fact that I was afraid to share my memories, but from what I'd heard the bonding itself was normally so intense that it took up all of a bot's concentration, so most of the time the bonded couldn't really remember the initial surge of memories. I was hoping that the twins wouldn't catch onto my memories, and if that was the case I could simply repress and lock them all away like I did with my creators. They would hopefully remain blissfully ignorant to all of it.

But then again some bots were known to recall every memory with perfect clarity after the initial merge to become mates… and that made me nervous. If that happened and they saw everything… would they be disgusted with me?

I didn't know for sure.

I was scared of what they would think…

Maybe that nervousness was why I'd been smacked in the helm one too many times with a wrench today…?

"Athena!"

I stumbled and tripped over my own peds, sending the stack of boxes I was carrying flying into the wall as I toppled onto the floor with a yelp.

"Primus Athena! Where has your processor been lately?" Uncle grumbled at me as he knelt and helped me up from the floor.

I smiled sheepishly. "Er… on things…"

"By things I'm assuming that you mean your bonding night?"

"Yes."

He grunted. "Well you need to focus on work in here femme! If you had been you would know that your shift ended over a breem ago, and you've been working extra on your free time. Now get out of here and go enjoy your days off!"

"Ok. I'll see you in two days Uncle!" With that I turned and made my way out of the med bay, into the hall which was empty. The twins weren't off shift for another breem or so, so I had to go to the rec room and wait for them.

It was a short jaunt to get there, and it was mostly empty when I arrived, save for First Aid and Relix, the latter of which was on her way out the door. "Oh, hey Athena." She greeted me as she came to a stop next to me.

"Hi Relix. Are you settling in well on base?" I asked politely.

She shrugged. "Eh, it's alright. Some of the mechs I've run into are total aftholes but it could be worse I guess."

"Hmm… mechs do tend to be afts from time to time."

"Yup. There's one called Tracks that's especially annoying, always throwing a fit about his paint and scrap. I walked into the rec room the other day and he was all dented up and crying about it, looked like somebot had put him through a trash compactor or something. I guess some gold mech beat him up right before I got there or something. I'd thank the mech if I saw him."

Well there was no way she was talking about anybot but my intended… And I'd been wondering why he'd come home in such a good mood the other day… "Ah, I can tell him for you."

"You know him?"

"Yeah. He's my intended mate actually, and he has a horrible temper. He also has a habit of beating the scrap out of anybot that so much as scratches his paint."

She smirked. "He's another pretty mech?"

I sighed. "Yes, yes he is. But unlike Tracks he can actually pull it off, and he can handle his own aft when it comes down to it. That doesn't mean that it's always easy to deal with him when he gets into one of his moods though. He can be a real pain when he's so inclined."

"Most mechs can be…" She trailed off as she raised herself up and stared at something over my shoulder.

I turned to look in time to see Jazz walking passed the doorway, and then I turned to raise an optic ridge at Relix, who was staring at him with wide optics. "Um, Relix?"

She blinked, and a perverted smirk spread across her features. "Sorry Athena… I gotta go catch up to that hot mech optic candy! Don't wanna miss out on staring at dat aft!" With that she practically sprinted around me and out the door, leaving me to turn and stare at her as she chased after him before disappearing around the corner…

I shook my helm and turned to face First Aid, who was also staring at me with a somber expression. He hadn't really spoken to me much since I'd announced that the twins and I were sparkbonding, and it was this lack of communication that really solidified what the twins said about him liking me. He was probably hurting over the fact that I was mating to them… and not him…

Even so, I didn't want to lose Aid as a friend. He was important to me…

I slowly moved to sit across from him, even though he didn't gesture me over like he normally would have. "Hi Aid."

He looked down at the cube he was clutching at, refusing to look at me. "Hi Athena."

"Um, how have you been?"

"Fine. I've just been busy…"

"I see…" I trailed off awkwardly.

We hadn't been awkward around one another since we were younglings and I was still terrified of everything that moved… This almost felt like those days again and I didn't like it. But I also didn't really know what to say to him either. We'd always been able to talk to one another comfortably… but now… that had changed…

"So…"

I looked up at him when he murmured that barely audible word. "Yes?"

He looked up at me with apparent sadness. "You're really going to bond to the twins?"

"Yes I am. We're meant to be together." I answered without hesitation.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely."

"Why do you feel that way?"

"Because I can feel it in my spark Aid. Danni always told me that when the right mech came along I would know it, that I'd be able to feel my spark wanting to join his. That's what I feel for them, and I know that I'll never want another mech the way I want them."

He vented harshly, helm bowing forward so that he was almost slumped over the table.

I reached out and gently laid my servo over the back of his. "I'm sorry Aid… I'm sorry that I fell in love with them, without ever realizing that you were in love with me. But… there's nothing I can do about it now, and you have to know that."

"I know… it's just that I never got the chance to actually tell you that I love you, and now that I have the chance to do it without being afraid of one of us dying in the war… your spark's already been taken. I've lost my chance to ask you to be my femme when I should've asked you a long time ago. If I hadn't been so shy and afraid that you would reject me… maybe you'd be my mate now."

My cheeks slowly started to simmer and burn with embarrassment, because let's face it… I wasn't used to mechs proclaiming their love for me. The first ones that ever had were my twins, and I fully returned that. Aid was just a friend… Oh Primus… what was I supposed to say?

It's not like there was any hope for him and I to be together. I didn't see him like that and I never had, and I'd found my sparkmates already. While it was possible to choose another over your true sparkmate, it would be considered foolish to do so when your true mate was literally designed to love you, and you them.

Finding him, or in this case them, shouldn't mean that I had to let all my friends go though. I wanted to preserve my friendship with Aid…

I squeezed his servo to get him to look up at me again. "Aid you're one of my best friends and I care about you a lot, but please stop chasing after me like this. There's no hope for us to be anything more than friends, and if you keep pining for me you'll miss it when you do meet the one that's meant for you. We'll always remain friends, and I'll always be here for you, but you have to move on. If not for yourself, then please do it for me. I hate seeing you so upset."

"I don't think I can…" He admitted quietly.

"Why?"

"Because I've… loved you since I first met you. Besides the war, treating bots, and fighting… that's all I know how to do. You were the one thing that acted as my light in the darkness of the war, and you gave me hope every time I saw you… I just don't think I can let you go."

"You don't have to let me go Aid, but you do have to stop pining for me. I love you as a friend and I want to see you happy, but I can't give you that the way you want me to. My spark is already set on my intendeds, and I can't turn away from them now. Please don't force me to have to let you go so I can be with them… because if that happens… I'll have to say goodbye to you. And I don't want to do that." By the time I was finished speaking coolant was starting to pool in my optics as I stared him in his, servo wrapped around his larger one in a death grip.

This was how it had to be…

I had no other choice…

And I knew that when he turned his servo and twined his digits with mine he realized that he didn't have any other choice either. His optics became glassy, coolant pooling in the edges and a few drops slipping free to slide down his cheek…

"Ok… We'll just be friends." He murmured in resignation.

"Yes… just friends."

We continued staring at each other for close to a breem, lost in what could've been but was never supposed to be, and having to face the cruel reality of it. For me it wasn't as sparkbreaking as it obviously was for him, but I still felt horrible for hurting him this way.

After another klik or so he gently caressed my servo, bringing it up to press a kiss to the back of it. "For all the times I wanted to kiss you… but never could. And now I can't even do it the way I wanted to in the first place." He explained at my wide opticked gaze.

I nodded wordlessly at him.

Then he stood up, "I'll see you in the med bay sometimes? And maybe we can still get together as friends once in a while?"

"Of course."

He nodded and turned to leave, only to freeze in his place and draw my attention over to the door way, where my intendeds were standing.

I stood up and made my way over to them. "You're late."

Neither of them responded to me right away. They just kept scowling at Aid, then Sunny grabbed onto me and pulled me into his side with an aggravated grunt. He didn't seem inclined to speak or even look at the other mech present besides him and Sides.

Leaving Sides to shock the ever loving scrap of me in between one astrosecond and the next. "As long as you promise not to put the moves on our intended you can hang out with her sometimes. But if you try anything…"

"We'll kill you." Sunny finished in a low snarl.

I blinked… "Um, did you just… give me permission to hang out with Aid, without being all crazy because he's a mech?"

"Yes, but only because we realized that we weren't being fair to you by being able to talk to other femmes, our ex's included, while we made a big deal out of you talking to any mechs besides Prime and Ratchet. And we trust you not to do anything with him. So as long as he respects the fact that you're our intended, and doesn't try to kiss you or touch you inappropriately, then we'll let you two spend time together without maiming him."

Aid and I were left gaping at the two…

Were they really… being this agreeable for once?!

"I… really?" Aid muttered in disbelief.

Sunny grunted. "You heard what I just said!" He snapped irritably. "Just don't try anything sneaky otherwise you'll regret it!" He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me flush against him as if to further stake a claim over me.

Aid didn't look like he knew what to think of that… "Ok… well… I'll get back to her soon if I want to do something… But for now I need to get going. Shift is starting soon." He muttered awkwardly, before he edged passed Sides and left the rec room.

Leaving me to stare up at my intendeds in awe, until they looked down at me and raised identical optic ridges. "What?" Sides asked curiously.

"You just… said that I could…" I trailed off without being able to finish my sentence.

"Hang out with First Aid sometimes. Yeah we said that. We realized that it wasn't right to try dictating everything you do, and who you hang out with. So as long as the mechs you hang out with are respectful of you, and of the fact that we're your intended mates, we'll try being cool about it."

I lunged up with an excited squeal before the thought to do so had even fully registered, wrapping my arms around their necks and squeezing the life out of them. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

One of them awkwardly rubbed my back. "We're glad that you're happy but can we go home now? I really need to polish my armor again."

I only hugged my lovable afthole tighter in response. "Sure…"

"Alright c'mon. We've gotta take you home and then we need to go to the market to get some things." With that they looped their arms through mine and led me out from the base.

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

"I just don't understand why I can't put a red accent on the crown somewhere!" I growled as Sunny and I walked down a sidewalk in the relatively busy marketplace. "She's going to be my mate too! Some of my colors should be present on her mating gift!"

"We could add something if you'd choose something small! If you add a giant ruby to the crown it's going to look gawdy Sides! Why not just litter small rubies across the surface instead?"

I pouted. "The entire crown is made of gold! There's hardly going to be any of my color on our mate's gift!"

My twin rolled his optics. "You are such a pain in my aft! What do you want to do? Make the crown itself half gold and half ruby? Why can't the periodic ruby engraving be good enough for you?"

"Easy for you to say! Your color is everywhere!"

He rubbed his temporal region tiredly. "Look Sides… Athena will love it as long as we put effort into making it! So just calm down!"

I huffed moodily, but let it drop when we stopped in front of a stand to get our quartex supply of energon. This argument wasn't getting me very far anyways, but that didn't mean that I was giving up! My color would be prominent on that fragging crown even if Sunny didn't like it!

While I was brooding Sunny paid for our supplies and shoved them into his subspace, then we went to turn and make our way back home when a familiar… and unexpected voice called out.

"Sideswipe!"

From my peripheral vision I saw my twin stiffen as we both turned to face the bright gold and pink Iaconian femme walking up to us. She had what would be considered a bombshell frame, curves in all the right places, and her bright blue optics were sparkling, and the sun reflected off of her armor and made it shine vibrantly under the light. Despite the fact that I was very much in love with my intended… I felt my spark skip a beat when she stopped in front of me. I hadn't seen her in so long… and when we split up it wasn't exactly on the best of terms…

"Hey Solaris." I greeted her as calmly as possible when I was somewhat torn over seeing her again.

She smiled brightly at me. "It's been a while since I saw you last! When I saw you I figured I'd come say hello!"

"It has been a while. What have you been up to Sol?"

 **(Sides… Should we really be wasting time with your old flame? Or should we head home to our intended? I'd personally prefer the latter option. So let's go!)**

 **(Just calm down bro! Sol and I are still friends and it won't hurt us to waste a few kliks catching up with her will it?)**

He just grumbled like a sour grump.

Sol turned to look at him upon hearing the sound. "Oh, hello Sunstreaker. How are you?"

"Fine."

She didn't look put off by his terse response, mostly because he always treated her like that. Instead she just turned away from him dismissively. "Well Sides, would you like to get some energon and catch up a bit? There's a nice café nearby."

My mouth was moving before I could even think over the ramifications of my response. "Sure, I have a few kliks."

Sunny glared at me harshly. **(What are you doing idiot?! We don't need to waste our time with her!)**

 **(Sunny we're still friends! If Athena can hang out with her mech friends, then we should be able to hang out with our femme friends! I don't see why talking to Sol for a breem or two will hurt anything!)**

 **(Whatever! You waste your time! I'm going home to my intended, who I love! Let me know when you would rather spend time with her than with your old femmefriend! And for the record she's not my friend!)**

With that he turned and stormed off without a backwards glance, leaving Sol and I staring after him. "What's gotten into him?" She murmured once he was out of audio range.

I sighed. "Eh, he just wants to go home and be with our femme."

We started walking towards the nearby café. "Femme? You mean a femmefriend? Or…?"

"Femmefriend." I answered as we entered the more upscale café located only a few streets off from the main marketplace. We quickly found a booth and sat down on opposite sides, waiting for a waitress to come take our orders before I clarified further. "Intended mate to be exact."

Her optics widened in surprise. "Oh? And here I was thinking that I would snag you again!" She giggled.

I smirked. "Well I'm officially off the market femme. Sorry!"

After she quieted down she leaned forward on her elbows. "So…? Tell me about her! What does she look like? What's her designation?"

"How about I just show you a holo-image of her?"

"Sure! Oh I'm so happy for you Swipe!"

I quickly activated my holo-projector and projected an image of Athena for her, one where Sunny had been holding her by the waist while she was baking a mercury cake a few days ago. She was looking up at him with a pretty smile, while my twin was smirking down at her while he tweaked her chevron lovingly.

"That's our intended mate Athena… Isn't she beautiful?" I murmured adoringly. My intended was absolutely perfect… I was so lost in my thoughts over that fact, that I didn't notice the look on Sol's face until I snapped out of it and looked up at her again.

Her expression… it was one of shock. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, her optics were wide, and her jaw was set in a hard line.

"Sol?"

Her helm jerked up, gaze hardening before she leapt up from the booth we were sitting at, turning on her heel and sprinting out the door.

"Sol!" I jumped up and raced out onto the street, but all I had the time to see was the back end of her alt mode as it tore off around a corner with a squeal of tires.

What the frag was that all about?!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

What the frag was Sides thinking?! Why would he even bother wasting his time on Solaris of all femmes? Sure he used to love her, and she returned those feelings, but I hated the femme. When she'd been around I'd only used her as a frag toy and nothing more! There was just something about her that I never liked and I could never figure out why I felt that way.

And now my twin was hanging out with her when we had a femme waiting for us at home! Why would he want to spend time with an old flame over our intended? Idiot! Sometimes I just didn't get him and his need to be so overly friendly! It was the main reason that femmes flocked to him, but it was also why they stuck to him like glue even when we sent them packing! He just… he was never as mean or indifferent as he should be! It was a part of my twin and I accepted it, but sometimes it just plain annoyed me!

I just hoped that Athena didn't find out about it!

When I finally made it home my intended was nowhere in sight. "Athena?" I called out as I made my way into the prep room to take care of the energon reserves I'd bought.

She didn't respond.

"Athena? Sweetspark?"

Nothing.

I thought that she might be in the shower so maybe she couldn't hear me, but I couldn't hear the shower running in the wash racks… So obviously that wasn't it. Maybe she was taking a nap?

I quickly finished putting the energon into the cabinet, before I turned and made my way into our berthroom. Upon entering it my optics landed on the berth that was nicely made up like it normally was now that Athena lived with us, femme had an obsession with carefully, and painstakingly making it every morning. Why? I had no idea, but that wasn't important. She wasn't in the room.

Maybe she was in the studio? I made my way to the door, pausing outside of it when a soft glow being cast on the hallway floor, peeking out from under the door, caught my attention. "Athena?"

When I opened the door the room was only lit by a dozen or so candles placed about on the desk, and a few were on the floor, but other than that it was pretty dark. I walked a little further in, and the first thing I saw was an easel sitting in the far corner with a blank canvas on it.

I looked around the room, and finally found what I was looking for sitting on the couch. "Athena?"

She stood up, allowing me to see that she was wearing a black… lace… robe? "Took you long enough to get back."

I stared at her bare legs peeking out from under her robe. "We got… a little sidetracked… What are you wearing sweetspark?"

Her lips split in a coy smile, then she spun and gave me a good look at her through the see through lace, which had me instantly and painfully pressurizing. "Oh this? Flareup got it for me a long time ago and I've never had a reason to use it before. But now I have you and Sides, so I thought maybe I could use it? It's pretty."

"Oh… Well what's with the setup in here then? Last time I checked we don't normally use the studio for interfacing."

"We're not going to interface you silly mech!"

My spike throbbed painfully, as if crying desperately for what she was apparently not giving me. "Well then…"

She suddenly slid the robe off of her shoulders and stepped back to sit on the couch. "You wanted to paint me again didn't you?"

My mouth suddenly went dry. "Yes…"

Her smile turned seductive as she leaned back over the length of the couch, using an arm to cushion her helm as she turned to face me in her laying position. "Well then, paint me like one of your Iaconian femmes."

Every trace of energon in my frame was pumping straight into my interface array, which was straining agonizingly against my sodpiece. I was feeling light in the helm, but I quickly made my way over to the easel she'd set up for the occasion anyways.

"Is this pose ok?"

I nodded as I started sketching the outline of her frame. "Yes, you look gorgeous."

Too gorgeous…

All supple yet defined curves…

A supple and full chassis, and a perfect curve to her wonderfully toned aft…

I grew more and more aroused with each line I made… and that little knowing smile popping up on her face periodically let me know that she was aware of what she was doing to me…

 **(Yo bro! What's going on with you? I can hardly walk because of the arousal coursing through the bond!)**

 **(I'm painting Athena naked…)**

 **(WHAT?!)**

I licked my lips, pausing to peer around the easel more fully so that I could get another good look at her. **(She asked me to paint her naked… and she's laying down… in a sexy pose…)**

 **(I'll be right there!)**

I didn't even acknowledge him as I continued sketching the outline of her frame line by painstaking line. My servos moved fluidly across the white surface, tediously etching every single detail of her beauty across my canvas.

Her legs were laying entwined with one another, arm laying across the length of her side, servo dangling in front of her apex, with one digit curved up to press against the surface of her protoform teasingly. The way she was laying had her chassis on full display, the deliciously enticing mounds jutting out enough that they were prominent. The expression on her face could only be described as calm, yet her optics were like smoldering liquid pools.

I felt myself literally drooling… and I had to quickly wipe a trail of fluid from my chin with the back of my servo.

At the same time that I did that the sound of peds racing towards my studio echoed from outside the door, which was practically thrust open so that Sides could come barreling into the room. He almost tripped over himself, but a quick grab at the corner of the wall saved him from sprawling out on his face.

His frantic venting instantly died off when he saw what had me so enraptured, optics widening to the size of saucers. "Oh my Primus…"

Athena giggled at his stupefied look, but didn't speak because she needed to stay completely still so that I could work.

"You… Princess…" He licked his lips and leaned back against the wall to continue staring at her.

While he did that I continued working on sketching her frame, and the room lapsed into total silence while I worked. Breems, then a groon passing by in which there was absolutely no sound save for the scratching of my pencil creating her likeness on my canvas.

I finally finished her outline after what felt like forever, much to my relief because it was one step done. With that finished I quickly got my brushes and paint in order and started painting her.

I became immersed in what I was doing quickly, losing track of time with each stroke of my brush. Her form sprung to life on my canvas. Every detail caught absolutely perfectly.

I wanted this painting to be flawless…

I paid special attention to every detail, making each stroke with exaggerated slowness…

Did groons pass? Joors? I wasn't sure, but I didn't bother to keep track of it.

All I knew was that when I started the sun was still up, and when I finally put the last stroke on my masterpiece the sky was pitch black. Normally I would've admired my work for a few kliks, but I was so bothered that I shoved my easel aside and stood up to approach her.

She propped her chin up on her servo as I closed in on her. "Do I get to see?"

I froze, cursing quietly before turning and moving back to my previous spot so that I could turn the canvas so she could clearly see it. When I turned back around she was sitting up so that her aft was on the couch, with her legs spread out behind her on either side, one arm pressed against the couch between her knees to prop herself up on, while the other servo was cupping her cheek as she observed my work.

Sides was openly ogling the assets that she had accentuated with her position and drooling over it.

Athena didn't seem to notice as she crossed the room to observe the painting I'd just finished. She leaned forward, aft jutting out just slightly due to the angle, door wings sitting perked up on her shoulders and hips, the curve of the latter becoming much more visible because of it.

I licked my lips, wanting nothing more than to bend her over and… but I knew that I couldn't.

 **(Easy bro… I want her too, but we have to be careful with how we take her remember?)**

 **(Yeah… I remember…)**

"Do you like it sweetspark?" I asked when she said nothing after a few kliks, partly to give myself something else to focus on.

"Yes of course!" She turned towards us with a coy smile. "But what I want to know if you enjoyed painting me?"

My optics were drawn to the way her hips swayed as she slid forward and pressed herself against me. "I fragging loved painting you."

She giggled quietly. "Good, because it was my way of saying thank you for earlier today. I really appreciate you two letting me have a little more freedom to see my friends."

 **(Ah… so that's what this was all about!)**

 **(Frag… I'll give her more freedom as often as she wants if she'll do this for me every time!)**

 **(Definitely.)**

"Well Athe, if you do stuff like this for us more often we might be more inclined to give you anything you want."

She purred up at me, servo sliding up to dip into the seams of my chassis gently. "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer… but for now there's another part to your gift…" Her servo trailed back down to my sodpiece. "So where do you want it?"

In a flash I had spun and pinned her to the floor. "Here's as good as anywhere."

Sides came over and knelt above her helm. "But we might move it to the berthroom after a few rounds…"

She arched and pressed her chassis against mine. "Well then... enjoy part two of your present…"

Oh we did…

As much as she enjoyed her present…

* * *

R&R! I decided to cut it off there because there's going to be a chapter coming up, either the next one or the one after that, where there's going to be multiple lemons!


	37. Chapter 37: Because We Left You Alone

Ok so from here on out please refrain from hunting me down and murdering me slowly and painfully! Can you all comply with that request? Or should I make it my final request? XD No but seriously… have patience from this point on! Things will get better when all is said and done! This one is mostly going to be one giant lemon, followed by some darker material! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS! I also posted a new story called Cyber-Merge! Please check it out and let me know what you think of it!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

Something was off with me today…

I couldn't quite place what it was, but I was feeling edgy and anxious.

I kept fidgeting because I had so much energy, optics repeatedly shooting towards the door as if that would make Sides and Sunny walk through it that much faster. They were already off work, and they should be home soon… but soon wasn't quick enough for me!

The need… oh this intense need that I had for them… It was driving me insane!

It'd been consuming me ever since I woke up this morning and the berth was empty save for me, my intendeds having left without waking me. To be honest in the mood I was in I'd rather they have woke me up before going… that way I could've made love to them before they left…

I whimpered, shifting on the couch anxiously because of the wetness pooling around the opening of my throbbing valve. If they didn't come home soon I wasn't going to be able to resist doing something about it myself…

Much to my relief the distinct sound of the front door opening caught my attention as soon as the thought occurred to me. I stood up and made my way into the entry way where my mechs were wiping their peds off on the floor mat.

"Princess!" Sides exclaimed when he saw me.

I felt a surge of arousal tear through me with enough force to almost make my knees go out, spark pulsing wildly in its' chamber in an ever increasing frequency the closer he came. My vents started racing as my internal systems started overheating due to the high charge surging through me.

He stopped in front of me, beaming happily. "We missed you while we were gone! Sunny the grumpy aft decided that I couldn't wake you up this morning before we left, so I didn't get my good morning kiss!"

My optics focused inward, effectively giving me tunnel vision in which I could only focus on him. Glossa peeking out from behind my lips to swipe over them, my frame tightening in response as I desperately tried not to just jump him where he stood. I wasn't holding out very well though if my twitching digits were any indication.

He grabbed me by the waist and leaned down to give me a chaste kiss that nearly had me losing control, before pulling back. "So… what did you do while we were gone?"

Valve throbbing painfully, I remembered all the daydreaming I'd been doing about what I wanted them to do to me.

"Princess? Are you okay? You're really hot right now."

The thin hold I had on my control suddenly snapped and I tackled him, causing him to give a startled yelp as his back slammed into the floor with a loud bang. I sat up, straddling his waist as I quickly started tugging at his armor in an attempt to get it off, uncaring that Sunny was standing right in front of me gaping.

Sides was staring up at me with wide optics. "Whoa there Princess! What's gotten into you?"

I growled heatedly, switching to staring at Sunny. "Take your armor off too!"

He blinked at me.

"NOW!"

I stared him down until he started stripping his armor off, then I turned my heated gaze down on Sides who was now staring up at me with equally smoldering optics. Holding his gaze, I shifted and grinded my valve covering over his sodpiece, eliciting a soft groan from him. "Take it off." I commanded harshly.

"Yes ma'am…"

I slid off of him so that he could strip, while I did the same myself, chucking both sets of armor over my shoulder by the armfuls. Then I pounced on him again, shifting forward to rub the sopping wet opening of my valve over his spike.

He vented harshly, optics dilating as he grabbed my hips in his large servos and forced me to repeat the action. "Oh my Primus… you're soaking wet femme. What brought this all on?"

I leaned down and growled in his face. "Sides I'm not in the mood for questions! What I want is for you two merge with me and frag me all over every micron of this house all night long!"

With that I stood and yanked him up from the floor, grabbing hold of Sunny's arm as well, and pulling them against me as I literally used their frames to box myself in against the wall. I pulled them in by the waists and hitched my legs around each of their hips, using their necks to wrap my arms around for leverage and they let me without complaint.

I leaned back against the wall with both equally supporting my weight now, opening my spark chamber at the same time that I thrusted my hips against theirs to tell them what I wanted. "Frag me…"

Both growled heatedly, opening their spark chambers and surging forward to ram their spikes into me at the same time they pressed their open chassis against mine and merged us all together.

My helm slammed against the wall when I screeched in ecstasy as they started snapping their hips back and forth to meet mine harshly. The speed and force creating a powerful shockwave of sensations that raced through my every sensor like an overwhelming surge of pure ecstasy that had me letting out one long, continuous stream of screeches, moans, and wails.

Sides slammed his lips over mine to stifle the sounds as his groans mixed in with the wet sounds coming from my valve.

I could hear Sunny moaning against my left audio, and it sent a shiver up my spinal strut that intensified the surging pleasure emanating from my interface array. "Oh you… feel…" He cut off with a shuddering groan when I thrust my hips back as much as I could.

I pulled away from Sides to yank Sunny into another heated kiss, glossa easily invading his mouth with no resistance from him, and moaning against him. "Oh! Frag! Faster!"

They sped up until my frame was literally pinned against the wall, surge after surge of blinding ecstasy raging through me with every single thrust they made, until it all culminated when my valve suddenly tightened and I fell screaming into an all-consuming overload. It had me arching as my spark crackled violently, and the electric showers lit off across the surface of my protoform stronger than they ever had before.

It had my intendeds stiffening as their hips started practically ramming into mine in a series of movements so fast that I could hardly make it out in my delirious haze. Then they shoved themselves against me and overloaded inside my quivering valve with matching snarls.

The energy passing back and forth between our sparks increased substantially, lasting far longer than a normal spark overload. But I wasn't complaining because it felt fragging phenomenal! I was just disappointed when it ended after only a klik or so and they slumped against me tiredly.

Sides looked up from where he had his face buried in the right side of my neck, our chassis still pressed together, and our sparks still merged. "Princess… that was the best frag I've ever had in my entire life…" He panted exhaustedly.

I petted the back of his helm. "Well we're not done yet… so you better be prepared for more. I've been in such a mood that I want to spend all day and night doing nothing but this. So let's change locations and start round two, oh but leave your sparks merged with mine. I don't want to let go yet."

"How are we supposed to move if at least one of us can't release you from the merge?" Sunny asked incredulously.

Frag! He had a really good point!

"Fine… but let's take this up to the berthroom so that I don't have to release you from the merge again. Later, after I'm satisfied with your sparks, I want to frag all over the house."

Both blinked at me, optics wide and shocked. "I love this change Princess…" Sides muttered in awe.

I pushed him back so that we could separate, leaving me to wrap my legs around Sunny's waist so that he couldn't let me go in any way. "I love you. Now be a good little mech and come." I reached out and stroked his open spark chamber lovingly as Sunny carried me by.

"Yes ma'am!" He growled as he followed us up the stairs and into the berthroom.

Once there Sunny carefully laid down on the berth with me sprawled out underneath him, all without us losing out intimate connection. No sooner had I touched the berth, Sides was wiggling his way back into his previous spot, spike easily sliding back into my valve as he leaned down and merged his spark with mine again.

They slowly started thrusting their hips against mine, groaning softly against my audios and spreading my legs as wide as possible to open me up to their attentions. Servos ghosted all over my frame, occasionally dipping in to tease the lining of my spark chamber until I was reduced once more to a screaming mess… Dual spikes driving into my deepest recesses, hitting all the spots that drove me wild and had my overload rapidly building in speed and intensity…

Moans mixing together in a cacophony of sound, mine a lighter timber but no less loud than their deep rumbling, guttural cries…

Frames writhing together, surging back and forth to repeatedly merge into one…

They uttered sweet nothings in my audios between one astrosecond and the next.

I moaned softly, arching and thrusting my hips back while murmuring my own words of endearment.

This was more loving than our previous coupling, and I loved every single moment of them gently bestowing my frame with affection. Clutching tightly at them as our lips repeatedly met, one switching off with the other, only to get pushed away when his twin came back for more.

I felt my overload drawing near after only a few kliks…

My spark seizing violently when it finally hit and ripping a startled cry from me when my frame swiftly locked up in response to every sensor being overloaded with the sensations of my climax. "SIDES! SUNNY!" I cried out as my hips started ramming up to meet the downwards thrusts of theirs.

"Princess… Slag Athena…" Sides panted as his optics slammed shut, just before both stiffened as sparks burst across the surface of their protoforms. "Princess!" He groaned loudly, hips picking up their pace as did Sunny's.

"Sweetspark!"

Both continued thrusting into me until they'd spent themselves entirely. But even after they couldn't pull themselves away from me for a klik or two, because our sparks were locked together tightly.

So they leaned over me, Sides nuzzling my throat lovingly, while Sunny stroked my cheek as he stared down at me with a warm expression.

"This was a pleasant surprise." He chuckled after a moment.

I licked my lips hungrily. "You say that like you're ready to be done for the day."

"I never said that, I was just stating a fact. We were both really happy with our homecoming today."

Sides leaned up on his elbow with a smug smirk. "Can we do this every time we come home from work and you had the day off? I'm seriously loving this amorous side of you Love."

"We can make it a tradition if you want. Every time you two work and I have the day off I'll greet you naked at the door, and we can spend all night doing nothing but this."

Both groaned. "Oh that sounds awesome…"

I stroked the back of Sides' helm. "I'm glad you think so because I have tomorrow off too and you have to work… Now are you two ready to go again? I'm not finished with you yet."

Much to my chagrin Sunny rolled off of me and got up out of the berth. He noticed my irritated look and shot me a playful smile. "Oh don't give me that look sweetspark! I'm just going to get us a tray of energon for the night, since we're not going to be leaving the berthroom much and we still need to refuel at some point tonight… maybe a few times at the rate that you're going. So I'm going to load up a tray and then I'm bringing it back up here. When I get back I'll jump you again."

"But for now you'll have to make due with me!" Sides grinned, giving a firm thrust of his hips to catch my full attention, taking it away from Sunny who exited the room. His servos slid down to my hips and around to grab my aft and yank it forward so that his spike delved that much deeper. "If that's ok with you Princess…"

I undulated my hips back against his. "Yes…" Giving a sharp upward buck to knock him off balance, I shoved him to the side, releasing him from our merge so that I could pin him on his back on the berth. Once he was laying flat I climbed on top of him and lowered myself on his spike again. "That is… if you wouldn't mind letting me take control for this round?"

He grinned. "Do anything you want to me Princess."

"Oh I will…" I purred seductively.

"I'm gonna love every astrosecond of this…"

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

When I came to I was feeling pretty drained from our activities last night, but something was tickling my throat cables and I couldn't go back to recharge because of it. I grunted and tried to shift away from whatever it was, but in doing so I became aware of something holding onto me from behind.

Then a feminine giggle had my optics snapping open as I turned to face the femme propped up over me. "Athena? Femme why did you wake me up so early?"

She slowly trailed her servo over my abdomen. "Because…"

"Because why? Athena we finally went to recharge five joors ago, after fragging for a solid eight joors! We need recharge!"

She pouted, whining low in her chassis as her door wings drooped behind her. "But Sunny… I need you and Sides said his spike hurts too much to keep going…"

I felt my optics widen before they shot over to where my twin was laying on his back panting harshly. "What the frag?!"

He held his servo out towards me. "Bro… tag me out bro… I can't keep going!"

"What the frag Sides? What have you two been doing?"

"Fragging…"

I sat up and scowled at him. "Clearly! But you're acting like you just ran back to back patrol shifts for a quartex!" Primus! What had our intended been doing to him?!

His optics lazily drifted over my way, arm giving out and falling back down to the berth where it laid there twitching periodically. "I can't… feel my spike… Save me bro…"

I just blinked down at him, before turning to face Athena who was sitting in front of me on her knees with an impatient look on her face. "Athena… femme what has gotten into you? We're all for fragging all day long, but even we need breaks femme!"

She slid forward to slide her servo between my legs with a purr, gently running it over the half limp spike that was already starting to pressurize in response. "You did have a break… Yours was actually longer than Sides' because I couldn't wake you up earlier like I was trying to. Luckily Sides doesn't recharge as deeply as you do."

I hissed when she squeezed the tip and stroked along my length in a manner that had me pressurizing the rest of the way. "Athena… sweetspark we have…"

"Shhh!" She pushed me down on my back next to Sides, who's spike she reached out to start stroking again, causing him to let out a groan when he started pressurizing again as well.

"Princess…" His vents stuttered harshly as she continued stroking his length. "Oh frag it… I don't even care! Do whatever you want to me femme!"

She smirked deviously, releasing us both after one last, languid stroke to our now fully pressurized spikes. "I believe I had been doing everything I want to you two… And you two have been such good mechs… so giving…"

My frame shuddered at the look in her optics, and the way she was acting like the most experienced seductress we'd ever seen! I don't know what had gotten into her but I was actually really loving it, even if my spike was going to be suffering from our nonstop fragging for a day or so.

"I'm not done with you two yet…" She purred, using her servos to prop her valve up over our spikes, before she slowly lowered herself down on them.

Her slick, quivering walls slid down over both of our spikes, squeezing down and pushing them together as she whimpered and gave a subconscious buck before even taking us in fully. She grasped at our chassis and braced herself on them, panting harshly with desire brewing in her molten optics.

"Open…" She pawed at our chassis and drew her own chest plates back, exposing her spark once again, and we instantly complied with her demand, dropping our own chest plates and allowing her to lean forward and merge us all together again, groaning in sync as she released a shuddering cry less than a micron from my face.

I surged forward and grabbed her by the back of the helm, tugging until she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. I thrust my glossa into her mouth and grabbed her aft to get her to start moving, and she quickly responded by quickly beginning to undulate her hips against ours roughly.

She panted, gasping and gyrating her frame in succession, servos grabbing every part of our frames that they could reach as she bucked against us as much as possible with our fronts all being plastered together.

I slid my servos over her back, wings, dipping them down over the curve of her back and aft, helping her to move faster and with more fluidity. A groan escaped me when she shoved herself down particularly hard, at the same moment releasing me from our kiss to bury her face against my neck and bite the cables beneath my chin.

My optics slammed shut when she twisted her hips in such a way that it had sparks going within my vision. "Sweetspark…!" I grunted, thrusting back against her as much as possible, which had her crying out when I slid over her sweet spot.

Then Sides yanked her face down to his, kissing her and massaging the edges of her spark chamber until she was literally convulsing because of it. Her thrusts suddenly picked up in speed and strength, valve quivering around our spikes as her cries reached an almost deafening volume. It didn't take a genius to figure out why either with the sparks starting to light off across her frame.

I felt her walls tightening, fluctuating, and in turn causing my interface array to tighten with my building overload.

We continued rocking on the berth…

Groaning, grunting, whimpering, panting…

Denta clacking together each time we slammed our lips onto each other's…

Servos feeling her frame up more insistently with each passing astrosecond…

Eliciting more and more shrill screams, some of our designations…

It finally culminated when she suddenly rammed down on us, valve unexpectedly clenching like an inescapable vice, her frame sparking wildly and raining showers of sparks down on us. The sparkmerge letting us feel her overload, which milked our overloads right on the aft end of hers.

She arched her back, pressing her chassis down harder against ours, screeching our designations at a deafening volume. "SIDES! SUNNY!"

"ATHENA!" I choked out in a yell as my overload surged through every part of me and ripped every last drop of transfluid from my reserves in several harsh sprays that ended up being sucked up into her gestation chamber.

At the same moment I lost it, Sides flung his helm back against the pillows, moaning our intendeds' designation as his spike erupted inside her as well, both streams of transfluid instantly being drawn up into her gestation chamber which slid shut before hers had even fully passed.

Afterwards she slumped down over us in exhaustion.

"I don't think I can move…" Sides rasped a few astroseconds later.

"Then don't…" Athena purred lustfully. "Stay here with me all day…"

I groaned. "Femme you're insatiable!"

"Mm hmm… But you know you love it."

"Not arguing that, but we can't stay in the berth all day. We have to go to work in a joor or so."

Her helm popped up, optics wide, and jaw gaping. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!"

I gently pushed her off of us and sat up after situating her on her side in the middle of the berth. "Sweetspark we have to go to work."

"No! You can't go to work today! You have to stay here with me!"

"Athena we can't stay here with you all day. We spent a lot of credits on the materials for your mating gift, and we need to work some extra joors to save up some more." I told her calmly.

She sat up and grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "Sunny if I go more than two kliks without getting fragged I feel like I'm going to explode! Are you really going to be this cruel and leave me to succumb to death by spontaneous combustion caused by being horny?!"

Sides choked out a laugh because I was too stupefied to say anything to that at the moment. "Oh Princess! You're not going to spontaneously combust from arousal!"

"Yes I will! You two can't leave me like this!" She cried almost hysterically.

I gently took her by the upper arms and laid her back down on the berth. "Athena you're going to be ok until we get back. You're going to take a shower and get cleaned up, refuel, and then your little aft is to get in this berth and recharge until we get home. I know you didn't get any."

"But…"

"No buts! When we get home we'll take care of you! But we still have to go to work!"

She pouted. "Sunny…"

"No more arguing." I finished with a tone of finality.

Much to my horror her lips started quivering and coolant started pooling in her optics. "You… would rather go to work… then stay home with me…?" She whimpered.

"What?! No!" Primus! How did she construe what I said that way?!

"Then why don't you want to stay?"

"We do want to stay!"

"Then stay."

"We can't. Sweetspark we have to go to work. I promise we'll take care of you when we get back ok?"

"I don't want you to go…"

I cupped her cheek and gently kissed her on the fore-helm. "I know you don't. We'll see you when we get back though ok? You get your rest until then."

She just nodded wordlessly, which was probably a very good thing because my will to deny her was fading fast…

I just hoped that today went by fast!

* * *

 **(Later that day)**

"Why did today have to drag on sooooo much?" Sides whined as we walked out of the base and started walking home.

"Because everything that could go wrong did go wrong." I muttered sourly. Communications duty always fragging sucked, and today was far worse than normal! First the systems had crashed and we'd spent a few joors waiting for Perceptor to fix them, then Prowl being the aft he was refused to let us go until we worked a full ten joors like we were supposed to! So we got roped into a thirteen joor shift instead of a ten like we were supposed to have.

"I hope Princess was able to get some rest while we were gone."

"I'm sure she did. Hopefully she's still out when we get back so we can take a nap too. I'm fraggin' exhausted."

"I'm personally looking forward to more now that I'm not as sore anymore!"

"You would. Just don't complain when you can't pressurize for the next quartex."

"Ok! I won't complain!" He grinned as he started skipping next to me.

I glared at him as we rounded a corner and passed a group of young femmes that started pointing at him and giggling. "Sides stop that! You're making a fool of yourself you dumbaft!"

His grin only widened when he started doing a sideways shimmy back and forth.

I rolled my optics and took a couple of steps away from him, and the rest of the walk I had to deal with the bots we passed laughing at us, or staring at my twin like he was crazy. Oh how right they were to the truth!

Luckily we made it home before I ended up throttling him for being an idiot. I stopped in front of the door and went to unlock it, but much to my surprise it wasn't locked. I didn't think too much of it as I opened the door and made my way inside, because Athena sometimes went out and took care of errands while we were at work. She might have gotten anxious waiting around without us and decided to go out and forgotten to lock the door when she got back.

Sides slipped passed me and got some energon out of the prep room, while I stopped to wipe my peds off on the door mat before making my way further inside. "Sweetspark!" I called out when I noticed she wasn't downstairs.

She didn't respond right away, not that I expected her to. But Sparky and Topaz started glitching up a fuss from their cages.

Sides made his way over to check on them. "She's probably napping. She even forgot to clean the cages and feed them today."

"Probably napped all day. I'll go check on her." With that I left Sides downstairs and made my way up to the berthroom.

The hallway was dark, no lights having been left on as I made my way down it. There was no noise audible, and it almost made me feel unsettled for some reason. I chalked it up to the fact that Athena almost always greeted us at the door when we came home and she'd been off for the day, and I actually really enjoyed those moments.

Oh well… I'd get my welcome home from her in a moment.

When I made it to the berthroom door it was open slightly, which was weird because Athena liked it closed when she recharged. I shrugged it off and opened it anyways, stepping into the room and spying my intended laying in a pile under the blankets on the berth. Looks like she took my advice and caught up on her recharge!

I made my way over to the berth and shook her shoulder. "Athena? Wake up!"

There was no movement from under the blanket.

I shook her again, more firmly this time. "Sweetspark! You have to wake up!"

Still nothing.

I grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it off of her… and uncovered her almost lifeless looking face, optics that were open but pitch black and unseeing. Energon was splattered across her right cheek, coming from a split on the side of her helm where something had struck her.

I felt my spark skip a beat before it started racing frantically in its' chamber as I yanked the blanket off of her and swept her up off the berth. "SIDES!" I yelled as I laid her on the floor so I could assess the damage done to her.

She was naked, and her chest plates had been ripped open, causing the metal to very nearly have been torn off at the hinges. Dents covered her wrists, thighs, and abdomen, at least from what I could see. There might be more, but I wasn't sure. Energon was leaking from her busted upper lip, and more was caked between her thighs.

"ATHENA! ATHENA SAY SOMETHING!" I yelled at her even though I knew she was in forced stasis and couldn't hear me!

And of course she didn't respond! She just laid there looking like somebot had…

Sides came racing into the room at the same moment the I pulled her up and cradled her in my lap. "What?! What's wrong?!" When he saw who I was holding, and more specifically what she looked like, he rushed over and knelt down in front of me. "Athena! Princess!?"

I cupped her helm, which allowed me to feel yet another, much larger dent that nearly dented the entire back of it inwards.

I was panicking…

I couldn't think straight…

All I could think about was her laying limp in my arms…

Sides shook me when I sat there doing nothing. "Sunny we've gotta take her to Ratchet! We've gotta move now!"

I nodded numbly.

He got up and grabbed a clean blanket to wrap her in, coming back over after grabbing it to kneel down and put it around her shoulders. "COME ON SUNNY! GET YOUR FRAGGING AFT IN GEAR AND MOVE PRIMUS FRAGGIT!"

Sides' yell finally had me snapping out of the haze I'd fallen into and I jumped up and raced out of the housing unit with him hot on my tailpipe. I didn't stop to go around anybot, I just bowled them all over and shoved them out of the way in my haste to get to the base!

We made it there in under a breem easily, racing inside and rushing straight to the med bay without paying the least bit of attention to anybot we ran passed. Some of which gave startled yells as I shoved them aside without giving a frag about where they ended up.

All I cared about was getting to the med bay where Ratchet was! He could help her!

I barreled through the med bay doors which slammed against the wall harshly, in turn prompting Ratchet to look up from his desk with a glare. "Sunstreaker what the-!" Whatever insult he was about to start spewing cut off when his optics landed on the bundled up femme in my arms. He leapt to his peds and raced over. "What the frag happened?!"

"I don't know! When we got home she was like this!"

He cursed loudly. "Put her on that berth!"

I carefully laid her out on the berth he indicated, and was roughly shoved out of the way so that he could hook her to an IV.

"I need room to work! Get out! And somebot find First Aid and send him straight here!"

Neither of us moved. "We're not leaving!"

"Sunstreaker you and Sideswipe need to get out! I need space to work on her! Now get out before I call a team of wreckers to haul your afts out!"

I planted myself no less than five feet from the berth she was laying on. "No! We're not leaving her!"

The CMO turned a harsh glare in my direction, but didn't bother yelling at us to get out anymore. Instead he turned and started working on her, but what he was doing wasn't visible from where we were standing.

I only had a klik or so to try peeking around him, before somebot grabbed my shoulders and yanked me towards the door at the same moment that First Aid came rushing in. I snarled, spinning and punching Ironhide in the face. "LET ME THE FRAG GO!"

He brushed my attack off, grabbing my arm and spinning to throw me out of the open med bay doors, where my frame hit the floor and went skidding across it to slam into the far wall.

"YOU FRAGGING SONUVA GLITCH!" I pushed myself to my peds with an enraged roar as Hound and Hot Rod forced Sides out, then they, Ironhide, and Blaster moved to block the med bay door from us. "GET OUT OF OUR WAY!"

"You need to calm down! Ratchet's gonna have her put back together before you can bat an optic, if you give him room to work!" Ironhide growled sternly, arms flexing as if he was itching to draw his cannons on us.

I fell into an aggressive stance as my berserker coding came online and filled me with an instinctive need to protect the femme on the other side of those doors, a need that more bordered on a homicidal rage that pertained to the wall of mechs currently keeping her from us.

Beside me Sides fell into his own stance, letting loose a menacing growl. "Move!" He hissed dangerously.

The living wall across from us fell one by one into their own fighting stances. "We can' do dat Sideswipe. Yah bo'h are in Ratch's way!"

I drew my swords and took a menacing step forward. "You'll move… or we'll tear you apart and stomp on your severed limbs to get in there!"

I was astroseconds from succumbing to my berserker coding when a sharp, commanding voice boomed through the corridor. "SUNSTREAKER! SIDESWIPE! CEASE THIS VIOLENT DISPLAY RIGHT THIS ASTROSECOND!"

We all whipped around in time to see Optimus and Elita walking up, with Prowl and Jazz trailing after them.

"I will not tolerate this senseless violence occurring while Ratchet is trying to work on my sparkling! Put your weapons away and stand down now!"

I was reluctant to do so, but the enraged expression on his normally stoic face had me complying. The last thing I wanted to do was get into a scuffle with the Prime of all bots, jail did not sound appealing right now…

He strode passed and took a seat on a bench that was across from the door, Elita quickly sitting down next to him and pressing herself into his side. "We are going to wait patiently until Ratchet finishes working. I do not want any more arguments or fights. Anybot that disobeys my orders will find themselves escorted off of the base until further notice."

That threat had me tensing, because the last thing I wanted was to get banned from the base now. So I reluctantly sheathed my swords and stepped back when all I really wanted was to cleave my way through everybot and get inside.

But I couldn't.

Because that would mean I wouldn't be here when Athena woke up.

I wanted to be the first thing she saw when her beautiful optics opened…

* * *

A little over four of the slowest, most agonizing joors we ever had to wait, the med bay doors opened and Ratchet stepped into the hall with a solemn look on his face. "She's stable now."

I pushed myself off of the wall I'd been leaning on for the past four joors. "How is she? Can we see her?"

"She's… going to be quite sore for a few quartexes most likely. Given the extent of her injuries it's a miracle she didn't suffer more serious trauma to the processor, though she was hit hard enough in the back of the helm to knock her into forced stasis, which she was apparently in for a good twelve joors or so before you brought her in. Because of that I'm not sure whether she'll be able to recall what happened as she may suffer from temporary memory loss. Her processor is a little scrambled at present, but she'll recover. Perceptor may need to come in and take a look, and I've called for him to come in first thing in the morning. We'll see what needs to be done then, if anything."

"But she's ok other than that?" Sides asked hopefully, well as hopefully as he could.

Ratchet hesitated, glancing off to the side.

Optimus stood up and approached him. "Ratchet? Answer the question please."

Servos clenching, joints popped from just how much strength Ratchet was exerting. "She was assaulted… sexually as well." He growled angrily.

My spark just… stopped when I heard that… knees giving out on me and sending me crashing to the floor…

Athena's face flashing through my processor…

The way she looked when we all made love this morning…

Her begging us to stay with her… The way she cried at the thought of us leaving her…

" _ **Athena you're going to be ok until we get back."**_

" _ **You'll be ok until we get back…"**_

" _ **We'll take care of you when we get home."**_

" _ **You'll be ok…"**_

But she wasn't ok… If we'd just stayed with her like she'd wanted… she would be…

We failed her… It was our fault…

Whoever did this was able to because we left her home alone! That coward waited until we left and attacked her, probably when she was in recharge!

All I could feel was overwhelming guilt, anger, pain, passing back and forth between Sides and I. We couldn't feel anything else right now, and we fed off of each other's agony wordlessly…

I could still hear when Ratchet started talking though, even over the pit brewing in my helm. I needed to know everything about what had happened to her.

"Her valve was… torn beyond repair, and her chest plates were ripped open... I had to completely replace her valve, and chest plates. I'm sure that you can understand what exactly happened…"

I looked up dejectedly when Prime finally lost his barely contained composure and snarled so loud it echoed off of the walls. "Please tell us that whoever attacked her didn't actually rape her spark too Ratchet…!" I begged pitifully.

He looked sadder than I'd ever seen him before. "I'm sorry Sunstreaker… but I can't lie to you. Given the state of her chassis you should've known…"

No! No! NO! Anything but that!

But it seemed as if he wasn't done yet, because he switched gears on us suddenly. "Sunstreaker… have you and Sideswipe… interfaced and sparkmerged with Athena in the last orn?"

I just stared at him dejectedly. "Yes…"

"Both at the same time?" He pressed.

"Yes why?"

If possible, he looked even more crestfallen now.

Elita took a small step towards him. "Ratchet? Are you insinuating that…" She trailed off in a horrified whisper.

"Yes I am… After closely examining her spark for any damage… I found out that she was going through her spark calling phase, and as a result of one of the merges… there is a newly kindled spark in her spark chamber…"

"A sparkling? Is it ours…?" Sides choked out.

"I don't know… When was the last time you two merged with her?"

"Before we left this morning." I answered.

He sighed tiredly. "And she was assaulted less than a joor after that…"

No… Not that!

"Because of how close the different merges occurred… I can't determine who the Sire is…"

* * *

R&R! Cliffhanger! Don't kill me...

And please check out Cyber-Merge. I'd appreciate it since the idea is really unique and I think it's pretty cool myself. But I've decided that if I'm going to post stories on here that may take years of my time to complete, I won't continue writing them if they receive no reviews, follows, or favorites. There's really no point in doing so when that's a long term commitment that I would be making all of you, and the lack of constructive feedback makes me question my own ability to write. I won't be doing that anymore.

Autobot-Metallah24


	38. Chapter 38: Aftershocks

Here's another update for you guys! I'm putting up a poll and I need you guys to vote on it! It's very important for how I do the story from the part I'm working on now! Anyways... I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

Perceptor left a while ago, after checking Athena's processor to make sure that it was completely intact. He informed us that she didn't actually require any repairs, and that it was just the force of the strike and where it struck that knocked her out, but nothing was knocked loose or damaged too much. Apparently she might suffer from helm-aches for a few days after she woke up, but that was as much as he expected to have happen.

We should probably be feeling happy with the fact that she wasn't going to suffer from serious helm trauma but… seeing her laying on the berth, covered with a blanket to preserve her modesty when we knew what was underneath, and with two large healing dents on her helm, wouldn't go away so easily.

Ratchet had moved her into a private room this morning, and Sunny and I had been sitting on either side of her berth since we'd been allowed inside. I was holding one of her dainty servos in mine, while Sunny held onto the other and lightly stroked her cheek.

He was beating himself up, had been ever since we found out what happened to her. She'd begged us to stay with her and we just left her alone… Alone and vulnerable for whoever had attacked her to get in and take advantage of her more easily… We were so fragging stupid… And now she was sparked… Sparked and we didn't even know if we were the Sires or not!

How were we supposed to tell her that? What were we supposed to do if it turned out that it wasn't ours? What would Athena want to do? Could any of us love a sparkling conceived by some rapist who attacked and sparked her against her will? All because we didn't stay with her when she needed us?

If we had stayed we'd know for sure…

Sunny suddenly looked up at me determinedly. **(Even if it's not ours by conception, it'll still be ours because it's a part of her, and she's ours. That's if she wants to keep it. I'm not making her terminate.)**

I was honestly a little surprised by just how serious and determined he was being right now. But then again, this wasn't Athena's fault, and she didn't deserve to have any more pain brought on than she'd already have to face. If keeping the sparkling caused her less pain, we'd adopt it and take care of it like it was our own.

 **(Yeah. We'll help her take care of it if she wants to keep it. I'm not gonna force her to do anything she doesn't want to do, unlike the fragger that caused this all in the first place.)**

 **(Jazz and Prowl are working on finding him, and when they do we'll make him pay for this.)** He growled vehemently.

 **(Agreed.)**

The door to her room suddenly opened, and Prime walked in with Elita, Cee, Flareup, and Ratchet. The former came to a stop at the top of her berth and gently stroked her between the chevron lovingly. "Has she given any sign of waking soon?"

I shook my helm. "No. She's been resting peacefully the entire time we've been here."

"I suppose that is to be expected so soon after such a traumatic event, coupled with her kindling. That is enough to take a lot out of a femme."

Sunny looked away from him, biting his lip to keep from growling in frustration. He didn't say anything, but he clearly wanted to.

I knew what he wanted to say, but we weren't sure how it would be taken so soon. The shock of the attack and subsequent kindling was still so fresh in everybot's processors. We all needed time to settle, and for Athena she needed time to recuperate and recover.

"What will you two do now?"

The sudden question surprised us both. "What do you mean Prime?"

His optics met mine. "I was referring to the sparkling. What will you do if it turns out that it is not yours?"

"If Athena wants to keep it we'll raise it with her as our sparkling." Sunny answered without hesitation.

"Are you sure that's something you can handle? Raising a sparkling that's not yours? One that was conceived in this manner?" Elita asked calmly, not challenging for once.

"If that's what she wants to do then absolutely. It'll be hard, but we're not going to push her to terminate, or even put her sparkling up for adoption if she doesn't want to. We're going to be her mates soon, and any sparkling that's hers is ours too. We'll take care of it even if it's… his…" I muttered the last part so quietly it might not have even been audible.

"But it could just as easily be ours." Sunny interjected quickly. "There's no way that you can just say conclusively that it's his for sure. We merged and sparked with her too so the likelihood of it being ours is just as high."

Ratchet pushed passed the lot of femmes standing near the doorway. "Yes that's true. It could be your sparkling just as easily. At this point it's impossible to tell, but within a few deca-cycles you two should be able to sparkmerge with her, and if the sparkling is yours it'll be developed enough to be able to recognize your spark wavelengths. In that case it will latch onto your sparks and reform the initial link that was created when you merged and conceived the sparkling to begin with. If you don't do that through the course of her carrying the only other way is to test the CNA when it's born." He quietly moved around the berth our intended was laying on, taking her vitals and making sure that her energon drip was refilled.

While he was doing this Prime kept stroking her helm with an expression that was tinged with worry. Since she'd been attacked we'd been so wrapped up in guilt that we'd never stopped to think of how Prime and his mate were faring. Watching how both had acted in the day since we'd found her was… hard when we couldn't help but to feel responsible for what happened.

They'd come to visit her as often as they were able to given the circumstances that had them scrambling to put a team together that could track down her attacker. On top of that, being Prime didn't exactly leave him with a lot of personal time since he had to deal with the day to day politics of a newly rebuilt Cybertron. He probably wished that he didn't have to leave and take care of his duties…

Unlike Sunny and I, we were absolutely staying put until she was released. We weren't leaving her side again, even if she was safe in the base. No way were we taking any chances!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

"I know that there's gonna be a lot of hardships waiting when you wake up, but Sunny and I will be there to help you through them. So I hope you wake up soon so that we can start helping you to get through them." Sides murmured against Athena's audio quietly, before he pressed his lips against it gently.

He kept doing this every few breems to fill up the silence in the room, and I didn't have it in me right now to grow irritated with his propensity for talking for no reason. Then again there was a reason for it, and I'd even talked to her a few times even if I wasn't sure she could hear it.

But mostly I just kept stroking her helm gently every few kliks. It was the only real comfort I could take for myself right now, or offer her in exchange. I wish she'd wake up so that we could talk to her but so far there was no sign of her doing so yet.

It was deceiving how peaceful she looked right now, resting without a care in the world that we could see. When she woke up and remembered what happened would she become inconsolable? Would it even sink in right away or would it just come back to her later? If she didn't remember were we supposed to be cruel and tell her anyways? Was that even for her own good? I had no idea…

I didn't want her to hurt because Sides and I had failed her, because we'd left her and she'd been attacked because of it. I wasn't even trying to shake the guilt away. The pain of failing her, of seeing her like this, and knowing it was our fault, was something that we deserved.

We didn't protect her when she needed us…

We left her alone when she begged us to stay…

Now look where we all were, watching her recharge in a hospital room and knowing that our lives were never going to be the same. But mostly hers was never going to be the same, because she had to carry a sparkling inside her, one who she had no idea who the Sire was. She was the one that had to deal with all the pain that would cause in a way that we wouldn't be able to fully experience.

But we could help her get through it, and we could be there for her through every step of her recovery. Not only because we felt responsible, but because we wanted to make it as easy and painless as it could possibly be.

I leaned down and pressed my fore-helm against hers, staring at her closed optics while my servo slid up over her chassis as if I could feel the two sparks within. My spark reached out for hers, and by extension the sparkling inside her, as if it could respond and feel my spark as only a creation could to their Sire. I wanted so desperately for it to happen, but I knew it was far too early in its' development for it to be possible at this point. Still… I wanted it to…

A soft groan rumbled the plating I had my servo pressed against, jolting me until I shot upright at the same time that Sides stood and leaned over the still form of our intended. "Princess?"

She shifted, helm turning from side to side as her optics scrunched up, before they slid open a crack revealing those bright crystal blues. With her sudden awakening came an increase in activity on the spark monitor she was attached to, and that had Ratchet striding into the room before she'd even had the chance to blink once.

"Move back for a moment." He commanded, pushing us back so that he could start assessing her. "Athena, it's Uncle Ratchet. Can you hear me?"

She moaned quietly. "Uncle… where am I…?"

"In a private room in the medical wing."

"Why?"

Could she really not remember anything at all?

Ratchet made a low sound of acknowledgement with a distinct tone of anger that he made sure was barely audible for her benefit. "Athena, somebot attacked you the day before yesterday when you were home alone. Do you remember any of this?"

A deafening silence fell over the room, the spark monitor cutting off so suddenly that Sides actually jumped when it emitted a thick static filled beep, before cutting off completely for roughly two or three astroseconds.

I expected it to start racing, but it picked up and evened out into a slow, steady rhythm. It didn't hitch or speed up, it didn't jump or fluctuate wildly with distress… It was just… calm…

"I remember now." She answered quietly.

Ratchet paused in his work, staring at the expression on her face, one that we couldn't see because he was blocking her from us. It seemed like he was hesitating, and it wasn't a real question as to why he was. "Athena… I have something I need to discuss with you…"

"What?"

He turned to look at us over his shoulder, then he stepped aside a bit so that she could see us and we could see her. The look on her face made me feel as if somebot had punched me in the gut, optics dull and almost hollow looking, belying the deathly calm expression on her face.

I stepped forward and laid my servo over the back of hers. It was the only real comfort I could offer her when I knew Ratchet was about to say something that was going to have her beside herself most likely. This calm… wouldn't last…

So I leaned down before he had a chance to say anything, pressing my fore-helm against hers and kissing her between the optics. "Sides and I love you no matter what happens. Nothing that's happened has changed that… and nothing ever will."

She didn't respond to me, probably because of the shock.

It left me with nothing else to do then step back without letting go of her servo, which I kept in a tight, reassuring grip the entire time.

Ratchet didn't look like he wanted to speak his next words, but he stepped forward and leaned down so he was more on her level, placing a servo on her arm in his own awkward show of comfort. "Athena… I wish that I didn't have to tell you this, but… you're sparked. I wish that I could say with certainty that the twins Sired your sparkling, but because of how close your last bout with them was, and when your attacker… assaulted you, there's no way for me to tell who's sparkling it is right now…"

I tightened my hold on her servo in preparation for the freak out I expected her to fly into… but she just laid there. Her optics widened for the briefest of moments, then they reverted back, and the only sign that she was suffering at all was the sudden faint trail of coolant that started leaking out of the corners of those dull crystal hues.

She didn't scream…

She didn't sob uncontrollably…

She just laid there, crying silently, with that same empty expression on her face.

It unsettled me more than anything… Crying, screaming, asking why? Those were all things I expected from her, things that I'd been preparing myself to help her through… But she didn't do anything I expected, and now I was just lost on what to do…

As were Sides and Ratchet, but Athena didn't seem to notice the way we were looking at her. Instead she eased her servo out of mine and slowly turned onto her side so that she was facing the wall.

"Do you want me to get Optimus or Elita?" Ratchet asked.

She shook her helm.

"Arcee or Flareup?"

She shook her helm again.

He just continued staring at her for another klik or so, before he turned towards Sides and I. "I'll give you three some time alone… If she has any problems just send somebot for me and I'll be right here. Do try to keep her calm though, at this stage in gestating it's imperative not to cause much stress… Later I'll come back and discuss possible… options for how to handle the sparkling with her… She needs to know what choices she has."

"Ok. We'll keep her calm… or we'll try our best to."

"Good. I'll be back in a joor or so to check on her." With that he quickly made his way out of the room.

We were left standing next to her berth, silently watching her cry without making a single sound. If not for the periodic shaking of her frame one might think she wasn't even awake, but it was clear to us that she was.

And when her vents suddenly hitched, emitting a low almost inaudible keening sound, we finally moved. I carefully crawled up behind her on the berth, pausing at the thought that touching her without her being aware I was there might scare her, so I gently placed my servo on her shoulder. "We're here for you now Athena."

She turned to look at me over her shoulder, tears now streaming down her face in thick rivulets, vent hitching with a sob when she turned and buried her face in my throat. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her flush against me, and she put up no resistance at all to being brought in so close. Instead she latched onto me, curling her legs up so that she was in a semi-fetal position with the backs of them brought up to cover her valve, and her door wings slapping down against her soft spot to better protect it.

Sides moved around to crawl up on the other side of the berth, and he made sure to touch her arm to let her know he was there. But the gesture had her turning in an awkward angle to press her back against the berth, legs curling up tighter against her aft.

My twin just laid on his side and slid one arm under her helm to cushion it, and the other was quickly draped over her midsection. "It's ok Princess…"

She pressed her face against my throat cables, coating them with the coolant leaking down her cheeks as her cries picked up in volume until she was in a full on sobbing fit. "I... d-don't… want it…"

My spark pulsed, torn between a myriad of different emotions ranging from hurt, anger, acceptance, and guilt. I didn't really know how to feel about her not wanting the sparkling, because it could be ours. What hurt the most is that we couldn't definitively say that it was or not though.

Her vents hitched loudly, rattling in protest. "I don't… want it… to be… his."

Sides leaned in and rested his cheek on top of her helm. "It could be ours Princess, and even if it's not… we'll adopt it and take care of it like it's ours. That's if you want to keep it. If so we're with you every step of the way ok? So don't feel like this is going to tear us apart, because we're here for the long haul no matter what."

She sniffled. "Don't say that!"

"Why can't I say that Princess?" Sides asked quietly.

"Because if it's not yours then I can't stay with you anymore!"

I shot up off the berth before I'd even registered that my frame was moving, Sides doing the same across from me, and both of us stared down at the femme curled up between us in complete and utter shock. That response caught us both completely off guard, and it left us reeling until we both hit a proverbial wall and were sent rebounding back when a sudden swell of possessiveness surged forth, pulsating wildly in our shared spark.

"What did you just say…?"

She didn't look up, or respond to me at all.

"Athena! What did you just say?! Answer me!"

My voice hitched on the end, startling her if the sudden jolting of her frame was any indication. She shivered, armor rattling as she curled further in on herself and buried her face in the pillow her helm was resting on since Sides had yanked his out in his scramble to get upright so he could stare at her with optics filled with hurt and disbelief.

I didn't want to scare her, or stress her out, but this… hurt… The thought that she might in fact leave us over this… only made the guilt shared between us worse than before. But more than that we just weren't willing to let her go regardless. Even if she wanted to…

That didn't mean that my vents weren't heaving with anger, or that the guilt wasn't making it hard to take in more air to cool my overheating internal systems. I wanted to yell, or hit something, preferably the mech who'd attacked her, but I couldn't and it did nothing to soothe my anger. If not for her being in such a fragile state I might've just torn the entire room apart until I'd sufficiently calmed myself down. As it was I couldn't do that, and her refusal to talk or respond at all wasn't helping me at all.

I couldn't take the silence!

That was why I grabbed her by the upper arms and carefully turned her onto her back, leaving her staring up at me optics that were overflowing with coolant. It reminded me that I had to be careful with her even if I was barely able to keep myself in check. I had to force myself to calm down before pulling her up from the berth, where I just held her and stared into those normally bright, vibrant blue optics. "Athena… don't you ever say that again. Do you hear me? Don't ever talk about leaving us again! Why would that thought even cross your processor femme?! Sides just told you that we'd take care of you and our sparkling, no matter what! Do you want to know why? Because no matter who Sired that sparkling inside your chassis, we're going to take care of it like it's ours regardless of whether it's related to us by spark or coding! We can do that for you because we love you, and we love every part of you, and that sparkling is a part of you! So don't think that you're leaving even if, by some horrible twist of fate, that sparkling isn't ours!"

She leaned back as if to try getting away from me, and when I wouldn't let go she shook her helm back and forth, keening quietly, even as Sides scooted around beside her and caged her in by wrapping his arm around her waist, and bringing her in against his abdomen.

"Princess, we want you to be ours forever, and this incident isn't going to form a wedge between us. All we hold for you is love, adoration, and the desire to protect you above everything else, and the sparkling you carry. Because, it's a part of you, and just being a part of you, is enough for us, and will always be enough for us."

She suddenly started struggling, causing the spark monitor to start blaring loudly in the otherwise quiet room. "No… I can't do this! I can't be a part of something like this again!"

I cupped her face in my servos, stopping her thrashing in its' tracks and forcing her to look me in the optic. "I won't ask what you meant by that last part sweetspark, but I will tell you that we're not letting you go because of this. We may have failed to protect you, and that's why you're hurting so much now, but we will never fail you like this again. If you keep the sparkling and it turns out that it's not ours, we're taking it in anyways, and if it is then we'll do our best to be good Sires. But no matter what happens we are with you, and we're not leaving you, and you're not leaving us. Do you understand that?"

"No…"

It was little more than a forlorn whisper.

I pulled her in against my front. "Yes sweetspark. Sides and I have already decided. There's no point in you fighting it anymore."

"No…"

Sides carefully wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her audio when she tensed as if to start fighting again. "It's ok Princess. Sunny and I are here for you now, and we both love you."

"You won't… You'll change your processor… if it's not yours…"

"If that was even a possibility Athena, we'd just tell you that we want you to terminate it! Obviously that's not the case, because we're telling you here and now that we'll take it regardless!"

Before she could respond to that the door to her room opened and Jazz and Prowl walked in. The sound of the door, combined with their ped steps had Athena tensing, armor clacking against her protoform loudly as she curled further into me before looking at the SIC and TIC timidly.

"Ey lil spark." Jazz greeted her warmly, and with a smile that wasn't belying any negative emotions he was feeling. He was clearly trying to put her at ease, but it didn't seem to be having much of an effect, mostly because it was clear why the two were here.

The room grew extremely quiet save for the furious rattling of Athena's armor and vents. I quickly grabbed her blanket and pulled it up around her shoulders to cocoon her in it, then I quickly tucked her helm under my chin and cradled her against my chassis. "It's ok Athena. Jazz and Prowl just need to ask you a few questions, then they're gonna go. Can you just answer their questions as best you can?"

She was silent, just sitting in my lap with her frame all curled up to protect anything that could possibly be taken advantage of.

Prowl too the initiative when Jazz hesitated. "Can you tell us what exactly happened the day you were attacked?"

"I'd just showered, and refueled… and I was recharging…"

"The twins reported that the front door to the housing unit was unlocked when they got home. Did you let your attacker in?"

"No… he came in while I was recharging… I don't know how he got in…"

"He mos' likely wen' ou' da fron' door den." Jazz concluded.

"Which means he may have been seen when he left the residence. Did you get a good look at him Athena? Can you give us any general description at all?"

Her chevron clipped against my chin guard when she shook her helm. "No… I… was… recharging on my front… and h-he jumped on me… I woke up b-because of it, b-but he pinned me down before I could move… so I c-couldn't see… He was… very heavy… I-I couldn't…"

She cut off with a choked sob, one that had me turning so that my frame was between her, Prowl, and Jazz. I turned a stern look over my shoulder at them. "That's enough for now. She obviously doesn't have any information for you."

Prowl's door wings gave a terse flick. "Sunstreaker I have more questions for her that need to be answered."

Sides was up off the berth, sword poised at Prowl's throat as soon as soon as the anger simmering in our spark spiked at his blatant disregard of the warning I'd given him. "My brother just said no more questions Prowl… You're stressing our intended out and she's in a very delicate state right now. Get. Out." He growled in a quiet, yet extremely menacing tone.

I bared my denta and glared at them until Jazz grabbed Prowl and dragged him out of the room. Only after the door had closed did Sides put his sword away, before he clambered back up onto the berth and settled down between my knees, thigh squeezing in under Athena's aft as he pulled her halfway onto his lap too.

"Don't be scared Princess… We'll protect you." He started.

"Nobot's ever gonna hurt you again sweetspark. I promise." I finished.

And I'd never been more serious about any promise I'd ever made in my life.

* * *

R&R! Check out the poll!


	39. Chapter 39: Old Memories Resurface

Sorry for the late update guys! I've been really busy lately with a lot of stuff! But I've got an update for you now! Hope you all enjoy it! Also I posted another story with Athena in it called Count On Me! It's an AU fic, and in it she's paired with my good friend's OC Theta. It's a really amazing pairing! Don't worry! In TSSK Athena is all Sides and Sunny's, but expect to see some fics and mentions of Atheta because it's a wonderful match! I encourage you all to give it a chance! Anyways on with the story! I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

I leaned against the wall, watching Ratchet looking Athena over to make sure that she was healthy enough to be discharged. He wasn't taking any chances with her health at present, what with her carrying and still recovering from her attack. We all wanted to make sure that her condition wouldn't regress when we took her home.

Home… our new home… That's right, Elita came to us about a quartex ago and told us that she thought it would be best for us to move to a new housing unit. Her reasoning for that was that she thought it might be detrimental to Athena's health and mental state if we took her back to the place where she'd been attacked. Sides and I had agreed, and she'd gone out and bought us a new house near where she lived with Optimus. We hadn't seen it yet, but she'd had our things moved into it, besides our berth, which she'd had replaced.

She didn't ask us to repay them for what they'd done, and we didn't have the funds to do so at present. But eventually we'd have to repay them somehow. They did just go out and buy us an entire housing unit after all! As long as Athena was comfortable there, I was sure it was good enough for them.

Hopefully anyways… and as long as it kept her from remembering… that…

I glanced at my chronometer to distract myself from thoughts that would only make me want to kill somebot. Sides should be off shift by now, so he'd be coming back in a few kliks or so, then we'd take her home.

It sucked but, we still had to work despite the situation. We had to provide for her, and for the sparkling, so we had to start taking shifts again. So far I'd been working nights, and Sides had been pulling day shifts. We were going to keep doing it this way for a while, so that one of us would be with her at all times during the day. It wasn't the most ideal situation, but we didn't have many options.

Luckily we had a quartexes off to get our things unpacked, get Athena settled in, and to spend time with her so that we could take care of her, before we'd have to go back to work again. We were tempted to use our vacation time now, but we'd need it after the sparkling was born so it was best to save it. I wished I'd saved up my previous vacation time so I had more to use now…

 **(Pouting Sunny? That's not like you.)** Sides nudged me over the bond as the door to Athena's room slid open and he walked in.

Athena glanced up at him as he passed, the same forlorn look residing on her features that was a constant now, then she went back to staring at her peds without speaking.

Sides took notice of it, but he just smiled at her reassuringly before he came over and hopped up onto the counter next to me. **(I don't like seeing that look in her optics… I wish she'd smile at me like she used to…)** He commented dejectedly.

 **(She will eventually Sides. We just have to help her heal and get through all of this.)**

 **(Yeah you're right.)**

 **(We'll just make sure that she takes it easy for the next few days, and that she knows we're here for her. I don't want her to feel alone right now, especially after we left her unprotected and that fragger took advantage of her! She has to know that one of us will be there to protect her through this, and hopefully that will help her feel more secure.)**

 **(I guess it's a good thing that Prowl is letting us take different shifts so that one of us is with her at all times.)**

 **(Even Prowl can do nice things from time to time I guess.)**

Our conversation cut off when Ratchet jotted something down on Athena's file, before turning and walking up to where we were standing. I pushed myself off the wall, as Sides hopped down from the counter just in time for Ratchet to come to a stop in front of us. "So? Is she well enough to be discharged?" I asked.

He nodded. "I've already commed First Aid to have him start the discharge forms."

Sides perked up, well as much as he was able to in this situation, but for once he was more focused on what we needed to do for her when we took her home. "So what do we need to get her now that she's being discharged? She needs supplements since she's carrying right?"

"I've already written up a prescription for the special medical grade energon she needs for her gestation, as well as her additional supplements. Other than that there isn't anything else she needs at present. Just make sure that she drinks three cubes of her med-grade a day, and takes a supplement with each serving. She's free to have other things between those times if she wants, just make sure that she does refuel. I also want you to make sure that she gets adequate rest, especially in this stage of her gestation. At this point she's going to be very fatigued, she may suffer from random spells of soreness in her spark chamber, nausea, and she could also have mood swings. The last symptom could be caused both by the changes in her frame that come with carrying, and as an… after effect of her assault. So she may be especially emotional."

"We'll take good care of her Ratchet." I managed to ground out, when I wanted to growl and throw a fit at the mention of the assault.

He just nodded. "I'll go get the forms she has to sign, then she's free to go. If you need anything comm me and I'll do my best to help."

"Ok Ratchet. Thanks."

With that he turned and left the room, leaving the three of us in silence for a few kliks. My optics zeroed in on our intended immediately, but she didn't look up from staring at her peds, though her wings twitched as if she knew I was staring at her. She'd been doing this a lot in the two quartexes since she'd been in the med bay, refusing to look at us, rarely speaking, not answering our questions… Sometimes it was like she didn't even want to acknowledge we were in the room with her. That made my spark constrict with pain…

I wanted to ask her why she was acting this way, but before I could Ratchet came back in with two data pads. We silently watched as he handed it to her, and she signed it, albeit very unenthusiastically, then he handed her the second pad which had instructions on her supplements, and what she should expect at this stage in her gestation. She took it wordlessly, while he gave her the same explanation that he gave us, with some parts omitted of course, and then he finally gave her the go ahead to leave after a breem or so.

"If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to stop in anytime Athena." He told her as he helped her down from the berth and ushered her towards the door. We quickly followed after them as he led her through the main med bay, then out into the hall, where he pulled her into a gentle hug just outside the doors. "Comm me anytime you need to talk sweetspark. I'll answer."

She nodded after they pulled apart, but otherwise didn't say anything even after we took her by an arm each and led her off of the base after Ratchet turned and retreated back into the med bay again.

I pulled up the address for our new place and tugged her and Sides in the right direction.

"Are you hungry sweetspark? We can stop and grab you something if you want." I offered as we made our way uptown, where the higher end housing units were. There were plenty of restaurants around, and though I was pretty sure she wouldn't want to stop and grab something to eat, I decided to ask anyways. I wanted her to have a sense of normalcy, even if it was most likely a little too soon after her assault for her to accept such a gesture.

Dull optics glanced up at me briefly, before sliding back down to stare at her peds as we walked. "No."

Well that was about what I expected… but it still bothered me to see her so lifeless…

Sides felt the same way, but we both knew that pushing her at this point would do more harm than good so we chose to drop it. But that didn't stop us from glancing down at her worriedly as we made the trek into upper New Iacon.

I still had to lead the way to our new place, not hard to do when I had the address logged, and my guiding system alerted me whenever I needed to take a turn, or continue going straight. The whole trek took a few breems at most, and it ended when I led my twin and our intended up to a large white housing unit.

It was circular in shape, like one of those designer houses I'd seen on the internet when I was on Earth. However, this was supersized in comparison, looking more like a mansion decked out with reinforced stained glass windows, which you could easily tell what they were with the way the frames were set up, and a reinforced cybertanium door at the top of a set of rose color, slate steps.

"That's… our housing unit…?" Sides mumbled in awe as he stared up at the huge structure. It was easily twice as big as our previous one had been.

"I guess so…" I mumbled, as I ushered them inside, after inputting the code that Elita gave me, to unlock the door. I led them through the entry way, which was a high arch ceiling made of red and gold marble, with a few built in shelves and tables lining the walls there.

The living room was decked out the same way, with a huge sectional couch sitting in the corner, near a large bay window that overlooked the neighborhood. Opposite of it was a good sized entertainment center, but the vid screen wasn't unpacked yet so it was bare. There was some garniture in the corner that needed to be arranged where we wanted it, including a nice white reclining chair, a table, and our essentials from our old house.

"Does this thing pull down?"

Sides' voice had me turning back towards the front door, where he was looking over a control terminal. He was messing with the buttons on it, when all of a sudden the metal wall surrounding the door started retracting into the ceiling, panels becoming visible as it folded up, revealing a multi-colored, stained glass window.

"Ok… that's cool."

I nodded in agreement. "Elita really picked a nice place…"

"So Danni's responsible for this?"

My optics shot down to Athena's face, and she was looking around our new housing unit with optics that were still dull and lifeless. "Yeah… she thought it would be a good idea for us to move."

"Because she thought it would keep me from remembering…" She shook her helm and snorted, then she pulled away and turned to go up the winding staircase. One last, dejected statement came from her, before she disappeared from site. "Like that'll happen."

I felt my frame slump in guilt and dejection after she disappeared. "We should've stayed with her Sides…"

"We didn't know that this would happen Sunny."

"We still should've stayed. If we had none of this would be happening now, we'd know that the sparkling she's carrying is ours."

He didn't say anything to that, because he knew I was right. I shook my helm and turned to go and start unpacking the garniture in order to give myself something to concentrate on…

Besides our failure…

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I laid on a berth in one of the guest rooms, under a thick blanket, which I was using to create a canopy above myself to block out all light. So far I'd been left alone for a few joors, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

I knew that they were blaming themselves for what happened to me, but I didn't place the blame with them. They had to go, and they couldn't have known that some mech would break in and… assault me.

If anything it was just the story of my life so far. I'd been assaulted more times than I could ever hope to count, for almost as long as I could remember. It was only because of the fact that Opi and Danni had proven to me that intimacy could be a good thing, that I was able to handle it with the twins. They handled me differently, took me in ways that didn't conjure up the memories of my past as strongly. I was able to stay grounded because of it…

I was able to enjoy those moments, without my past striking fear in my spark every time I found myself in a berth with them…

Maybe it was because I was always assaulted from behind? Every time I endured it I was pinned down, and the soft spot between my wings was ripped into so that I'd end up temporarily paralyzed, and rendered unable to squirm or fight…

The twins never took me like that, they just had this way of making me feel safe, like they could never even conceive hurting me. That's why I was able to put those fears behind my first time with Sunny, and I'd been able to press forward and enter a consensual, and intimate relationship for the first time in my life.

Now that was all tarnished…

All I could think about was the newly kindled spark in my spark chamber…

A sparkling that might not even be sired by my intendeds…

And that notion struck real, genuine, dread in me…

It made me remember why I was target, hated, tormented, abused, throughout a majority of my life… It was all because… I was an illegitimate sparkling, conceived when my real Sire cheated on his mate and sparked a pleasurebot…

The betrayal… the hurt… and rage… that Luminescia must've felt when my Sire dragged my carrier into their housing unit and told her that he'd sparked her… All that anger, and hate was directed at me for as long as I could remember…

It was passed onto all of their sparklings, all of them taught as soon as I emerged, that I was to be hated. I was beneath them, worthless, a no good spawn of a pleasurebot that seduced my Sire and got herself sparked as a result. They made it out to be like it was all our fault, not his for cheating on his mate and betraying his family unit…

I was tormented for so long because of that… and now I was going to face the exact same situation as my carrier and I did when I was a sparkling… if the sparkling I now carried was not Sides', or Sunny's.

My processor was taunting me with memories of my past, switching my reality around and putting me in my carrier's place. It twisted bots that once made me feel safe and loved, putting them in the place of those that had attacked me, and twisting everything that once gave me comfort and support.

I was terrified that they would see my sparkling and I the same way that everybot had looked at my carrier and I. I was afraid that they would judge us, that everybot would call me a whore, and condemn us both as my carrier and I had been condemned.

What would I do if the twins left me because of it? What if they found another femme and mated with her, and locked my sparkling and I up in the basement, never to see the light of day again?

No… they wouldn't do that to me… right?

Why couldn't I make myself believe that? Why?

Why did my processor have to twist everything around? I could feel coolant pooling in my optics, and I felt like I was teetering on the verge of an all-out panic attack... It was all I could do to turn and bury my face into the pillows so that they could stifle the sounds when I finally lost control and stared sobbing uncontrollably.

There was too much pain…

Pain from a distant past…

Agony in the here and now…

And my world was slowly spiraling out of control because of it all melding and becoming one big, festering, void filled with nothing but pure anguish. It left me hyperventilating between each sob that racked my frame, rattling my plating with such force that several pieces smacked against my vents harshly.

I choked, coughing and gasping as they stuttered and gave out for a moment, causing the heat that was rapidly building up inside me to have no outlet, and thus I began to overheat. Steam started wafting off of me in thick waves, heating up the room to an unbearable degree. It had my joints locking up, vents finally kicking back on and practically screaming to expel more heat from my internal systems.

It must've been loud, my audios were certainly screaming from all the sounds going on within, and around me. I couldn't focus on anything, my thoughts spiraling further into despair. I was forced to endure what I could remember of my most recent attack over and over again, feeling it in my frame, as if I was physically going through it again.

Large servos grabbed onto me from behind, one pinning me down, while the sensation of something trying to force my legs apart invaded my processor…

And just like that I started screaming!

Loud, shrill, frenzied screams that reverberated through the room and bounced off the walls to come back and invade my audios like a stinging slap to the face plates. I thrashed, keening as I threw myself back first against the wall, and then curled into myself so that my knees were pulled up against my front, and my lower legs were pressed against my valve covering to protect it. All while the shrill screams kept falling from my vocalizer one after another…

It was pointless to try protecting myself… they'd get through them like they always did, because I was weak and small… But I still kept myself curled up as if that would work, as if it would stop anything when I knew it wouldn't… It never had…

Faces were looming over me, a presence tucked against my back despite the wall being there. I could still feel him, whoever he was, poised and ready to drag me away, and I could only start wailing louder in fear because of it.

And the whole time they were laughing at me, at my pain. Those posh, finely polished faces… sneering at me, doing nothing to stop what was happening…

Why did they keep doing this to me?!

A sudden pounding invaded my audios, then somebot grabbed onto my arms from the front. I flinched back and shrieked at the top of my vocalizer, wildly swiping at whoever was touching me with the pointed digits on my servos until whoever it was grabbed onto my wrists and pinned them together. My panic only escalated, and I uncurled myself and lashed out with my peds, trying to strike out blindly at my captor. They deflected my kicks with ease, pinning my legs down, and just like that I was full on hyperventilating again.

"Athena it's me! Calm down!"

My optics popped open, landing on a concerned pair of dark blue ones staring back at me from a black helm with finials decorated in gold. "S-Sunny…?" I mumbled as I started to somewhat come down from the terror induced haze I was in. "W-Where… where… am I?"

His optics darkened at my question…

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Her screams were still ringing in my audios, having startled me so much with the sheer desperation and fear in them, that I thought somebot had broken in and was attacking her again. I ended up running upstairs as fast as I could, stumbling into one of the guest rooms, and the first sight that greeted me was of Athena curled up in the top left corner of the berth, with her frame folded in on itself, and her back pressed into the corner, while she continued screaming as loud as I'd ever heard anybot scream before.

She didn't even take notice of me…

She just kept screaming, and then she started fighting me when I went to stop her frantic thrashing to get away from something that was only in her helm. I grabbed her, and she started trying to swipe at me with her claws, one attack tearing the plating of my right cheek and causing me to start leaking from it, as I fought to subdue her and finally got her wrists pinned together to prevent her from severing any important cabling with her lethally pointed claws.

But she still didn't calm down afterwards, instead she started kicking at me, the pointed heel of her left ped caught me in the thigh and dented the armor there. I was forced to pin her legs down with my left arm, as I wrapped my right arm around her shoulders and pinned her arms to her sides.

I had to yell at her that it was me, and only then did she finally stop… But… she'd been so far gone in fear that she didn't even know where she was now… Her question was ringing harshly in my helm, making my spark constrict painfully. She looked lost, scared, small, meek… so unlike the sweet femme I knew.

"We're in our new housing unit sweetspark." I told her gently.

She blinked her optics, dispelling the unnatural brightness that only came with panic or extreme fear. "Wha…? New… housing… unit…?"

I nodded. "Yeah, your creators bought it for us, remember?"

"I… when…?"

"Elita bought it a quartex ago. She wanted you to be closer to her and Optimus." I explained as I slowly got her to ease up and uncurl her frame, then I helped her sit up so that her back was resting against the pillows. Her optics shot around the room warily, as if she was looking for somebot that was going to hurt her. "Nobot's here but you and I Athe, and even if there was I wouldn't let them hurt you. Just calm down ok?"

An audible squelching sound resounded in her chassis as she swallowed nervously, door wings sitting stiffly on her back. "They were there Sunny… they were always there…" She mumbled quietly.

That confused me considerably. "Who?"

She didn't answer me.

"Athena?"

No response… She just kept staring at the wall…

Before I could press her further, I heard the sound of Sides calling out from downstairs. He must've felt how distressed I was a while ago when she was having that breakdown, because he came into the room less than five astroseconds later.

He looked at me first, then glanced at Athena, who hadn't even acknowledged him at all since he'd walked in. I could tell that he caught what had happened through the bond, his tight, concerned expression said it all. "What happened Princess? Are you okay?"

Athena looked up at him when he stopped next to the berth. "I don't want to talk about it." She whispered dejectedly.

"Talking about it might help sweetspark." I pointed out.

"I said I don't want to!" She snapped angrily.

Normally I would've grown irritated with being snapped at, but I knew she couldn't help it right now. She was in the early stages of being sparked, and was recovering from being raped. I wouldn't do anything to make life harder on her right now. "Ok, you don't have to talk about it then Athena."

She pulled her knees up to her chassis and laid her chin on top of them, not speaking any more than that.

Sides and I exchanged another look, because steam was wafting off of her frame and it was obvious that she was too hot for it to be healthy right now. She also needed to drink her special grade energon, and take her supplements. Ratchet would have our afts if we didn't make sure she took them.

My twin turned back to her and gently laid a servo on her shoulder, which she did no more than glance at him from the corner of her optic at. "We need to get you cooled down Princess, you're overheated."

She looked away.

"Don't be like that Athena. You know that overheating can be dangerous for you, and not just you, but the sparkling too. We need to get you cooled down, and then you need to take all your supplements."

"I don't want to… I'm not hungry…"

I scowled at her, before picking her up. "Too bad." With that I carried her out of the room.

She was not going to get away with neglecting her health!

* * *

R&R!


	40. Chapter 40: Out of Desperation

Here's an update for you guys, but it may be one of the last. I'm not sure whether I'll continue this story or any of my other ones. I can't seem to enjoy writing anything anymore. It seems like everything is going nowhere and it's just too stressful to continue it when there are so many stories on her that are better, by authors who are better too. I know if I take my stuff down it'll be easy to find better things to read. It's not set per se... but I'm heavily thinking about it... Anyways... don't kill me for all the bad stuff that's happening in this fic! The genre clearly says Romance/hurt/comfort! Should've expected lots of angst and pain! Anyways I do not own Transformers!

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

I didn't want to refuel…

I couldn't recharge without having horrible nightmares every night…

I was so tired of waking up screaming at the top of my vocalizer, and fighting against my intendeds when they came rushing to my aid. I could never even tell it was them at first, and I ended up flailing and kicking at them, lashing out with my claws in a blind fear induced haze. Every time this happened, they had to wrestle me down, grasp my face, and force me to look at them until I realized who it was…

It was so hard to think of anything else but the fact that I was carrying, and that it might not be my intendeds' sparkling. Instead it might belong to a mech that had jumped on me while I was recharging, pinned me down, and assaulted me, both physically and by spark. I couldn't remember all of it, but the fear that I was so familiar with came back ten-fold when I thought of the moments that I could recall.

A large frame pinning me down from behind… like all those other times… It was so scary…

The memories of it, and every other moment I'd experienced like it were overwhelming me. I couldn't think straight…

I didn't want to face everybot hovering over me all the time, the twins, my creators, friends…

I hated seeing that pitying look in their optics whenever they looked at me. I didn't know how to handle it… Nobot had ever looked at me with sympathy after something like this had occurred… How was I supposed to react? It made me feel even dirtier, like they all knew every little filthy secret I kept hidden…

I curled further in on myself, hugging my knees against my chassis as I sat perched on the windowsill in the guest room I'd been staying in. It had been a few days since I came home, and I refused to leave this room unless I absolutely had to…

I just sat in the same spot, staring out the window over the upper east end of New Iacon… Just staring at life as it continued to go on all around me, while mine felt like it was coming to an end. There was so much dread welling up inside me…

Nightmares plagued me every moment of the day, awake or in recharge, taunting me with the ghosts of my past… Ghosts that were set to become a permanent part of my future, binding me and pulling me down into desolation and fear…

The door to my room suddenly opened, startling me as Sides' came in holding a tray with two energon cubes on it, a package of energon candy, and a bottle containing my supplements. "Hey Princess! I brought your supplements, and some goodies!" He smiled gently as he sat the tray down on the nightstand, then straightened back up to his full height. "How are you feeling?"

Shrugging, I turned away to stare back out the window without further acknowledging him.

He sat down next to me and gently laid a servo on my knee. "You need to take your supplements Princess."

"No."

"Yes. You and our sparkling need it."

"You don't even know if it's yours!" I bit my lip to keep from crying out at the pain and frustration that my own words caused to war within my spark. It was true… regardless of what they thought, they had no idea if this sparkling was theirs.

From the corner of my optic I saw him watching me closely. He didn't look mad, or irritated with me but… there was this sad, guilty look in his optics… It bothered me…

I tensed when he scooted up against my side, and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He leaned down and brushed his lips against my chevron gently. "What did Sunny and I tell you? Whether this sparkling was kindled by our sparks, or is related to us through coding or not, it's ours. We're gonna raise it with you no matter what."

"You can't say that."

"Why not?"

"Because, it'll never work out and you know it." I mumbled dejectedly. It hurt so much to admit that to not only to myself, but to him as well. But it was how I truly felt… I was there for all my carrier went through, and this situation was so eerily similar that I felt the same cold dread fill my tanks that plagued my every waking moment back then.

The memories of how much pain she went through…

How she died… so horribly…

It hurt… I would never forget the horrible whirring sound as her frame was shredded bit by bit… until there was nothing left…

I couldn't do anything to stop it… And the guilt of that haunted me all these millennia afterward, though I was so used to repressing the emotions associated with it. Now it seemed like I couldn't… It haunted my dreams every single night almost…

I couldn't forget or let go… Not when my situation was turning out to similar to the events that led up to our suffering, and her subsequent demise…

This would never work…

I was too scared that something like that would happen again…

Something inside me saw fit to inform me that this situation was indeed different in some ways. First and foremost: The twins were being supportive. They weren't being aggressive or cruel to me because of what happened.

Second: They hadn't locked me up and hidden me away like some dirty little secret…

Third: They were still taking care of me despite everything…

So it was different in some ways, but the irrational part of my processor was convinced that it wouldn't matter when the sparkling was born and it wasn't theirs. What I knew from growing up, was that nobot wanted to raise an illegitimate sparkling that was conceived by their mate or intended, with another bot. My real Sire and his mate had taught me that…

A soft pressure on my shoulder startled my so much that I jerked away and nearly fell off the windowsill in my attempt to scramble into the corner, away from the unwanted contact. I knew that it was Sides, because very few bots from my memories ever touched me so gently, so I couldn't confuse the contact for anybot who hurt me. But it still felt… wrong…?

I pressed myself into the corner and folded in on myself, watching him over my knee plates as he stared at me without making any move to get closer. For which I was grateful, because I didn't want to feel their affectionate touches… it would only make it harder later…

He looked at me for a klik, then looked down at the tray with my supplements on it, then back at me… But he didn't say anything…

Or more like Sunny came into the room before he could. "Did you take your supplements yet?"

I quickly turned so that my back was pressed against the wall, optics drifting over to the window so I could look outside again. "No. I don't want them."

He sighed. "Athena, Ratchet said you need three cubes of your special med-grade every day, and you need to take one of your supplements with each cube. Please don't fight us on this!"

I turned away and buried my mouth in the crook of my arms. "I'm not… hungry…" Even as I said it, my tanks suddenly rumbled loudly in the otherwise quiet room. The sound garnered looks of concern from both of them, but I didn't want to see it right now…

My frame felt weak, sluggish, and lethargic… Between the nausea, and the pain, I purged up everything they gave me. Until now I'd been able to keep it a secret… but from the looks on their faces, I was sure that they at least expected it…

I tensed when I felt the tingly sensation of a scan running down my frame, shying away from it and pressing myself farther into the corner.

It didn't matter and I knew that, when Sunny's expression suddenly shifted to one of intense aggravation. He pinned me with an intense look, and practically growled. "Athena… your energon levels shouldn't be that low… You kept down a cube of energon this morning…"

I tucked myself tighter into a ball, refusing to respond to him at all. It wasn't like I could lie, or justify not refueling. I didn't care enough to anyways.

"Athena! I gave you energon this morning! Why are your levels practically non-existent?"

Every relay in my frame tensed and clamped down, locking up at his accusing tone.

He vented harshly when he figured out the answer to his question all on his own. "You've been purging everything we've been giving you…"

I looked down at my lap shamefully. He was right, there was no reason to deny it or argue… I didn't want to… I just looked away when he sat down beside me on the windowsill, to ashamed of myself to look at him and see the accusation in his optics, but… fully cognizant of what I was doing, and of the fact that I had no desire to stop.

"You've been starving yourself." He stated quietly.

I didn't answer him.

"Why Athena? Why would you want to starve not only yourself, but the sparkling too?"

How could I tell them that, because of my past I was absolutely terrified of the prospect of giving birth to the sparkling that was little more than a miniscule spark of life within my chassis? How was I supposed to tell them that I was so afraid that I was both intentionally, and unintentionally starving us both to death, because that option was better than living and having to face what would happen if the sparkling turned out not to be theirs?

That was how I felt, no matter what they said… I couldn't force myself not to imagine the pain and misery we'd both go through if I actually carried to term and birthed this sparkling. Facing the ridicule, shame, and the sheer hate that we'd both be subjected to afterwards.

More than facing the pain myself, I never wanted to subject any sparkling to that… I never wanted one to go through any of the things that I did. I couldn't bare the thought…

Something gently touched my chest plates, and had I not been pressed against the wall already I would've jumped and scrambled away from the surge of fear and anxiety that coursed through me due to the realization that I was in fact being touched there. I couldn't remember what my attacker had done to my spark, but the knowledge that it had happened frightened me and made me paranoid about anything touching me there.

"It's ok sweetspark, it's just me…"

The familiar voice rang loudly in my audios, reminding me of where I was and who I was with, before my processor took the plunge into the darkest recesses of my fears. I looked up at the handsome silver face plates of my intended, a calm and reassuring look residing in those electric blue optics. "I'm sorry…" I whispered guiltily.

"Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong." He smiled at me as reassuringly as he could, but then his expression fell a bit and he seemed conflicted. "Well… you didn't do anything wrong by being frightened when I touched you… but you are doing something wrong by not refueling."

I looked down into the cradle of my arms dejectedly. "I… just can't…"

"You have to refuel Athena."

"No… I don't want to…"

He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him. "You have to, for our sparkling."

"You don't even know if it's your sparkling!" I whispered.

"What did we tell you before? What have we told you every day since you woke up? That sparkling is ours, even if we didn't Sire it ourselves."

He looked so sure, so confident about what he was saying… A quick glance over his shoulder at Sides showed me that he looked much the same, so sure of what they kept telling me. But I couldn't look passed my past to accept it…

Bringing a sparkling into the world when I knew that it could and most likely would suffer as I had…? Could I really take that chance? With the memories and fears festering constantly in the back of my processor, reminding me over and over again how cruel this world was to illegitimate sparklings… could I really do this…?

No, I… was sure that I couldn't go through with this no matter what they said. I just couldn't do it… I was too afraid to… That realization… made me feel so guilty, and yet… also… free… I knew what I had to do, the only right thing…

I closed my optics and vented deeply, uttering the next words in a voice so soft that I almost questioned whether I spoke at all. "I want to terminate."

The room instantly fell into a heavy silence that let me know that they heard me clearly. I couldn't look at either to see how they were taking my sudden declaration, because I was afraid to see the expressions of anger on their faces.

"You really… just said that…?"

I nodded wordlessly.

He slid a servo under my chin and tilted my helm back so that I was forced to look up at not only him, but Sides who was now looming over his shoulder with an expression on his face that perfectly matched the equally unreadable one on Sunny's face. His servo was still resting over my spark chamber, and I could easily feel the tension radiating out of his frame. "You really want to do that? You'd take the chance of terminating the sparkling… without even knowing if it really is ours? All because we don't know for sure?"

Coolant pooled in my optics as I bit my lip and nodded.

He stared me down quietly for another klik or so, before he sighed and turned away. "If that's what you want… we'll make an appointment with Ratchet as soon as he can get you in… But Athena, I think you need to think long and hard about whether you really want this or not. Sides and I aren't going to stop you if you want to do this, but it's something you'll have to live with forever… One day you might look back and regret terminating this sparkling, you might question whether it was worth it to get rid of it."

Maybe he was right… but, I was too afraid to face the outcomes of carrying it… I was too afraid to…

I'd never, ever expected to be in a situation where I had to do something like this… I never even thought I would find a mech and end up carrying his sparkling but… this wasn't what I wanted… I felt guilty and trapped… scared…

But I couldn't carry a sparkling… not one conceived like this… and in this situation where I was terrified of what would happen to it and me. This had to be done… and hopefully Primus would forgive me for my sin.

"I need to do this."

It was quiet for a moment, but then the warmth enveloping me dispersed as he stood up. "Ok, I'll comm Ratchet and make an appointment." With that he walked out of the room and left me alone with Sides, who was just standing in the same spot, staring at me with an unreadable expression.

After a moment he turned and grabbed an energon cube off the tray, wordlessly holding it out for me to take until I did so. "You know Princess… I know that you feel like you have to do this, but you don't. Sunny and I are willing to raise this sparkling with you no matter what…"

I vented heavily as I stared down into the blue liquid sloshing around in my cube… and I could only think of one thing to say. "You say that now…"

He didn't respond to that.

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

A quartex later, we found ourselves sitting in the hall outside of the med bay, waiting for Ratchet to come get Athena for her… appointment. She was sitting between Sunny and I with her servos folded in her lap, and her wings sitting painfully erect on her shoulders. I could tell that she was nervous.

Every few astroseconds her optics would shoot around the corridor warily, as if she was expecting somebot to suddenly pop out of nowhere and attack her. I hated seeing her so tense and scared, but I didn't really know how to make her feel better right now.

She shifted and started picking at her thigh armor nervously, prompting me to reach out and grab onto her servo to stop her. "It'll be ok Princess."

"I'm scared…"

I shifted closer and pressed myself against her side. "I know you are, but Ratchet will take good care of you."

"I know…" She whispered, while staring at the door across from us with such a torn look in her optics.

"You know that you don't have to do this right?" Sunny suddenly interjected. He wasn't happy about this, but at the same time he knew it was her frame and her choice whether she wanted to keep it or not.

We didn't even know for sure if it was really ours, but we were fully willing to go through with this anyways and deal with the consequences later. But Athena was set against that, and she just wouldn't listen to anything we said. For some reason she was just convinced that we wouldn't want this sparkling, she repeatedly said that over this last quartex. Nothing we said, no amount of trying to convince her otherwise, would work…

"I… have to…"

My twin cupped her cheeks and forced her to look at him. "You don't have to do this. We'll take care of you both."

She ducked her helm, and a small trickle of coolant spilled down her cheek. "Please don't say that… it'll just make this harder."

"That sparkling in your chassis might be ours you know? It might've been kindled by the three of us, not by the mech who attacked you. Think about that before you go in there Athe. If you knew it was ours, could you really go through with this?"

A small whimper escaped her. "Please stop…"

Before anything else could be said, the doors to the med bay opened and Ratchet stepped out into the hall with First Aid beside him. His face was wiped clean of any emotion, posture stiff and professional. "We're ready for you Athena."

Our intended slowly stood, quietly drawing away from us as First Aid stepped forward and slid an arm around her shoulders to steer her into the med bay. That left Ratchet staring after them, before he turned back to us and sighed. "I thought it might come to this. From the look on her face I'm guessing you tried to convince her not to go through with it?"

I nodded dejectedly. "Yeah we tried but… she's terrified right now. She won't listen to anything we say."

"At least you tried, but the choice is ultimately hers at this point. If I could say with certainty that you were the Sires, that might give you some say in this but… I can't." He turned towards the med bay doors and clenched his fists. "For what it's worth… I respect you both for being willing to help her through this regardless of whether this sparkling is yours or not. It takes a good mech to be willing to do that…"

With that he stepped inside and the doors closed behind him, leaving us staring after him with mixed emotions. I know that I never expected Ratchet to say such a thing about either of us, and yet for once he wasn't belittling us for our choices. Instead he was praising us for being willing to do something that most weren't.

But those words still didn't change what was about to happen… She was going to terminate the sparkling and we were powerless to do anything to stop it…

 **(This is her choice, but I don't understand why she's so set on this! Does she not know that we're serious about raising this sparkling with her regardless of whether we Sired it or not?)**

 **(I don't think she believes us Sunny. I don't know why but… she's afraid and she isn't thinking clearly because of it.)**

 **(What if it is ours?)**

I felt my spark tighten with loss at the thought, it hurt more than I was expecting… If that sparkling was ours… I wanted to keep it, we wanted to keep it. And even if we couldn't say for sure, there was still a chance that it was… Deep down inside… we were both hoping that it was ours, and that she wouldn't have to go through the pain that came with having a sparkling kindled by spark rape… We were just as scared and unsure as she was about all of this… but we were willing to stick with her through all of it, no matter what happened.

I vented heavily. **(….Then we lose our sparkling today.)**

He didn't respond, and the two of us lapsed into a heavy silence for a few breems while we waited. Normally while we were waiting I'd play a game, or Sunny would draw in his sketchbook but… neither of us felt the desire to do anything right now.

We just stared at the med bay doors, blaming ourselves for what was happening now… If we'd just stayed with her that day none of this would be happening. She wouldn't have been raped, she wouldn't be so scared and lost, and we wouldn't have to sit here doing nothing while she terminated a sparkling because she didn't know who the Sire was… because we would know that it was ours.

The guilt was overwhelming…

So overwhelming that time seemed to just trickle by as fast as a turbo fox with no legs trying to outrun a cyber vulture trying to prey on it…

Chronometer ticking by, one astrosecond feeling like it was taking ten or twenty just to pass to the next… It was like time slowed down, and dragged on and on until the heavy feeling encompassing us became more maddening.

I wanted to throw something, or punch somebot…

I wanted to lose my temper and just take out every ounce of my anger on anything nearby…

I had to clench my servos into fists and bite my lip to keep from doing that…

One more astrosecond ticked by…

I started thrumming my digits against my knees…

Another…

Sunny started to bounce his leg up and down agitatedly…

Another…

I vented heavily to dispel the mounting anger and frustration building up between us…

Another… and another… another… another yet…

Just when I thought I was about to go crazy the doors to the med bay opened up and First Aid led Athena out. We both stood as the red and white mech approached, with our intended cradled against his side, with her face buried in her servos as coolant pooled between them and dripped onto the floor.

We looked to Aid, who shook his helm as Ratchet came out behind them. He went back to comforting Athena as Ratchet gestured for us to come over to him. I hesitated for a moment because I was worried about our intended, but Aid made a shooing motion at me so I quickly made my way over to where Sunny and Ratchet were standing.

"What happened?" My twin asked once I stopped beside them.

Ratchet sighed. "She was too stressed out, and her spark rate was fluctuating too much for it to be safe to do the procedure. If I would've proceeded, then it's highly possible that I would've done extensive damage to her spark…"

"So you have to reschedule then?"

"I asked her if she wanted to and she said no. She said she couldn't go through with this."

"She really said that? But she was so… set on doing this earlier." Sunny muttered in disbelief, but he was secretly relieved that she didn't go through with it.

"Can't you understand why she feels the way she does? She's afraid that despite what you two say, you won't want this sparkling if it turns out that it's not yours. It's a common fear for femmes in the same situation."

"But we told her that we would accept it regardless. None of this is her fault! How could we hold it against her?"

"I know that you don't hold her responsible, or even feel any animosity towards her over what's happening, but she doesn't know that. You need to try harder to make sure that she's aware of where you two stand in this situation. She might try and fight you, argue, even push you away, but you have to keep trying. She needs your support right now."

"We've been trying Ratchet… but she's just resisting it. She acts like she doesn't believe us no matter what we say! We're not giving up or trying to force her to do anything! We just want to stay with her no matter what happens!" I argued.

"Then keep telling her that! It might not get through right away, but over time it should start to sink in. I also think that it might be a good idea to send her to see Smokescreen once a quartex for counseling as well. She needs a safe place to talk about what's bothering her, without fear of being judged. I can tell that the stress is taking its' toll on her internal systems, and that's not good right now."

Sunny and I exchanged a look with one another, wordlessly agreeing that Athena might need what Ratchet was suggesting. "You really think that'll help Ratchet?" I asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yes I do. I think we should wait until she's more stable, but as soon as she's recovered a bit more I think I'll have a talk with Smokescreen about starting up sessions with her. It can only benefit her in the long run."

"Well if you're sure…"

"I am. But for now I want you two to take her home, get her to refuel and relax for the rest of the day, and put her to berth early tonight. She needs rest."

I nodded, turning and making my way back over to First Aid was consoling Athena. The red and white mech looked at me and stepped aside when I slid my arm around her shoulder, stooping down to slide my other under her knees so that I could pick her up princess style.

She stared at me for a moment before turning and burying her face against my shoulder with a soft whimper.

I started to make my way out of the base without another word to Ratchet or First Aid, Sunny coming up on my left side and gently stroking between her chevron. "It's ok Princess. Sunny and I are going to take you home so you can get some rest ok?"

She didn't respond to me, she just kept her helm tucked against my shoulder throughout the entire trek back to our housing unit. It wasn't a good sign but I didn't say anything about it as I made my way inside and took her up to her… room…

I wanted to take her to our room but… she wouldn't recharge in there… So I took her into the guest room next to ours and laid her down on the small berth she'd claimed. I quickly covered her up with the thermal blanket she kicked to the bottom of it this morning, and tucked it around her so that she was warm.

While I was doing that Sunny came in with a tray containing her energon and supplements and sat it on the nightstand. He pulled a chair over and sat down next to the berth and leaned forward to take the small servo that she was clutching at the top of her blanket with in his. "It's ok sweetspark."

Her vents rattled, hitching when she turned coolant filled optics on us. "No it's not… I just couldn't go through with it when I realized what I was really doing! I thought it was for the best but… I can't kill a sparkling! I just can't… But I'm still scared…"

"We know that you're scared Princess, but we're here for you." I tried comforting her.

She shook her helm, and the trails of coolant trickling down her cheeks thickened as more and more fell in succession. "If it's not yours you'll hate me! That's how this always worked before!"

What the pit was that supposed to mean?

Before I could ask her what it meant, I heard the doorbell ring downstairs. "I got it." I quickly turned at Sunny's prompting stare, and left to go answer the door. Elita and Optimus were standing there when I opened it. "Oh, hey Optimus… Elita…" I mumbled as I stepped aside and let them inside.

"How did everything go today…?" Elita asked as we made our way into the living room.

It was no secret that Elita was against termination, she tried talking Athena out of it as much as we did when she found out about it.

"She didn't go through with it."

"Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she was too nervous and Ratchet wanted to reschedule, but apparently Athena told him she couldn't go through with it. She told us that she couldn't kill a sparkling, but now she's really upset. Sunny's with her now."

"May I go upstairs and talk to her?"

"Yeah sure Elita. Just kick Sunny out and send him down here so you two can have some time alone ok?"

The bright pink femme nodded and made her way upstairs without another word, and less than a klik later Sunny came downstairs. He looked frustrated, but that was to be expected. Neither of us knew the best way to handle this situation outside of what we were already doing… and even that didn't feel like it was enough.

"I don't know what to do Sides… Athena is freaking out right now. She just keeps repeating the same thing over and over again…" He sighed and plopped down on the couch tiredly.

"About us hating her if the sparkling isn't ours?" I guessed.

"Yeah… I keep telling her that it's not true but it's like she can't even hear me right now…"

I felt my shoulders slump a bit at that bit of information. "She's that bad?"

He just nodded.

A slight weight settled itself on my shoulder, prompting me to turn and look up at the mixed emotions swirling in Optimus' optics. There was anger very clear to be found there, but also a strange mix of strained calmness. He was doing his best to keep it all bottled up, but for once even he couldn't keep his face devoid of emotion.

"We must offer the support that Athena needs at this time, and for the moment that must be enough. Allow Elita to talk to her and calm her down, and afterwards the four of us can discuss some new developments in the investigation."

We both tensed as a surge of anxiousness and anger surged through us. "You found something?"

Bright blue optics darkened, and he nodded.

My optics narrowed. "Finally…"

* * *

R&R! Leaving off on a bit of a cliffhanger there. Can't be bothered to do more.


	41. Chapter 41: The Truth Hurts

Well I'm not really feeling much better but I decided to update. Life sucks lately. I can't seem to find a lot of inspiration to write so updates will be slow. I hope you guys understand. Anyways you're gonna learn some things in this one. Hope you like it. I do not own transformers. I posted another story for Athena, it's an OC/OC with her and my good friend's OC Theta. It's really good so far. If you guys want to check that out it'd be awesome too.

* * *

 **(Elita's POV)**

Athena's crumpled form was the first thing I saw upon entering the small room she'd claimed as her own since taking up residence in the house Optimus and I had procured for the twins and her. She was laying on her side, facing away from the door, with a blanket pulled up over her helm. Even though she was trying to muffle her sobs, I could still clearly hear them and it made my spark stir with anger and sorrow.

Seeing her now reminded me of when Prowl had first brought that tiny, malnourished, barely online femme into the base all those millennia ago. Back then she was so small and fragile, covered in rust from who knew how many millennia of neglect, with a frame covered in dents and scars so deep and numerous that it was impossible to count them all.

I hated remembering that day, though it was one of the best in my life so far. The day that she'd come and given me everything I never thought I would have in my life after losing my own sparkling, and my ability to have more. She filled the hole that was slowly eating away at my spark back then, giving me another reason to truly live, not just survive.

But now, she was distraught, hurt, in pain, and I couldn't help but be reminded of the first few vorns of her being with us. Back then she was always so scared, curling into a ball and laying in a corner, shaking and scared to the point that it made my spark break. Her tiny frame so weak and underdeveloped from whatever she'd been through that she kept so closely guarded.

Yes, Optimus and I were aware that there was more to her past than one might think upon that first glance. What else could have a youngling so afraid that she couldn't even recall those first terror filled vorns where she screamed every night, disappearing at any given opportunity, only to be found crumpled up in a corner, banging her helm against the wall and crying out for a femme that was very much dead?

Athena remembered nothing of those days, it was as if once she fell deep enough into the darkness festering in her memories, she couldn't recall where she was or what was going on. I didn't like seeing this… I had to do something…

I slowly approached the chair beside her berth and sat down, not touching her as she quivered under the covers, mumbling incomprehensible words to herself. I remembered this from before… so clearly… but this meant that I knew what to do to help her.

Ever so slowly, I reached out to her via the bond that she'd tentatively formed with Optimus and I nearly a six vorns after we'd met her, carefully connecting our sparks together and ignoring the way an almost instantaneous block formed around her thoughts. I could feel the terror and anxiety welling in her spark, and I carefully started channeling reassurances into her through our bond.

She tensed instantly, as if just realizing that I was here. **(Be at ease sweetspark. It's just me.)**

 **(Danni?)** She whispered quietly, the sound like the ghost of a sound echoing through the dead silence.

 **(Yes. I came to make sure that you were ok… It appears that the twins were right and you are not. Do you want to talk to me about what troubles you?)**

For a moment she went dead silent, before she shifted and slowly turned over under the covers so that she was facing me, large, thick, coppery tracks staining her cheek plates. **(I… can't…)**

This response did not surprise me. **(Yes you can. I will listen, you know that. We're all worried about you Athena. Please talk to me.)**

 **(I have to do it… but I can't.)**

 **(You're referring to the sparkling?)**

 **(Yes… I can't keep it… But I can't terminate it either…)**

 **(I don't understand why you feel that you can't keep it Athena. If the twins are willing to stay with you through whatever outcome, why feel that you can't face said outcome?)**

 **(Because…)**

I reached out and took her servo in mine, gently stroking her smaller one as she curled her digits around my palm. **(Because why?)**

Her optics ghosted over, as if she was remembering something unpleasant, but I wasn't able to get into her helm to see what caused such a haunted expression to come to her face. The grip on my servo tightened as she brought her other servo to her mouth and bit down on it, similarly to when she was a youngling. I recognized it as a coping mechanism that she used when she was severely distressed.

But I couldn't help her, because I didn't know what I was helping her with… I didn't know why she was so conflicted that she was willing to toss aside Primus' greatest gift to all Cybertronians… The miracle of a new life… a gift that I only knew through her…

She whimpered, biting down and chewing on her servo until a few small trickles of energon seeped down onto the berth. Her tears came faster, in thicker rivulets, and she seemed to curl further in on herself as her plating started rattling even more loudly, clacking against her protoform with such force that I was worried she'd bruise herself.

 **(Athena calm down. Everything is alright.)**

 **(No it's not. Nothing will ever be alright again. It never has been! Not the first time this happened, and not now!)**

Confusion blossomed in my spark, something eating at me to ask what she meant by that. She'd never said anything like it before, and I had to know what she meant by that. **(Athena, what do you mean by that?)**

She curled up even more under the blankets, quivering horribly as wide, coolant filled optics peered at me with a look of utter despair and helplessness in them. But Athena stayed quiet, as if she couldn't, or didn't want to respond.

I squeezed her servo a reassuring squeeze. **(You know that you can tell me anything right? I'm here for you.)**

Her other servo latched onto my wrist, squeezing me to the point of discomfort, but I didn't say anything about it. She laid there quivering horribly, staring at me in a way that made it seem as if she was absolutely terrified of something. I channeled reassurances through the bond as much as I could as her fear buffeted me like the blast wave from a leviathan cannon. The sensations were overwhelmingly powerful, festering in my spark as if I was feeling them myself.

 **(You don't understand… It was like this before… with my Sire and Carrier…)**

I tensed at the mention of the two bots Athena never spoke of, not ever. How was the situation she was in now similar in any way to the dynamic between her biological creators? Before I could ash, she started talking again.

 **(I'm an illegitimate sparkling Danni… I was conceived when my Sire cheated on his mate with my carrier who was a pleasurebot… Do you know… what being a horrible mistake is like…? Being hated hurts…)**

 **(Athena…)**

 **(My Sire… hated me. I was a mistake, a threat to the perfect life he had with his mate… He never wanted me, never acted like I was his creation, or took care of us…He hurt us… hated us… All I can ever remember from him is pain. Because I was his worst mistake… All he could ever do is look at us and see something that could destroy his entire world, and he knew that he had to keep us locked up. If others knew about us his reputation would've been ruined and that's what mattered most to him…)** She whispered over the bond, each word dripping with self-loathing, sadness, pain, desolation…

I could feel the pain seeping into my spark even more strongly, and it made me want to do nothing more than wrap my arms around her and never let go. She was in so much pain… Was she always like this? Was there always this much agony festering beneath the surface of her carefully crafted mental blocks? How could we have known nothing of this?

Her optics dimmed, staring at me with a dull, hollow expression. **(Do you know where I grew up? In a basement in my Sire's housing unit… He kept us locked up, hidden from the outside world for my entire younglinghood. I never once went outside, or got to play… I never knew what the sun looked like, or what the wind felt like on my plating… All I knew back then, was the damp darkness of that room, and the warmth of my carrier's embrace… She was the only one who loved me… because she didn't see me as some mistake she made, but as the only light she had in her life. But we both suffered a lot… being beaten and abused, starved all day long, every day… I know that if I'd never existed she would never have hurt like that… I wish she'd terminated me…)**

The shock that statement caused to sweep through my frame almost had me falling out of my seat! I brought a servo up and cupped it over my mouth as coolant started pooling in my optics. "Athena!"

 **(She never blamed me… but I blame myself. I'm a mistake. I promised myself when I was young, that I would never be in that situation again… I'm scared to. Right now, with this sparkling inside me… I'm terrified that everybot I know will turn on me… like they did to us before. I don't want to end up locked up in somebot's basement again, like a dirty little secret! I don't want my sparkling to have to go through that either! Can't you all see that?!)** Her voice raised, becoming borderline hysterical on the end as her optics widened and the coolant washing down her cheeks came in thicker rivulets.

 **(Nobot is going to do that to you Athena.)** I tried placating her in a shaky tone. My emotions were running rampant with all these new revelations of a past that I never even knew the least about. How could a Sire hurt his creation to the point that they were reduced to this state?

 **(Yes they will! If there's one thing I know, it's that no matter how much somebot loves you, when you're a mistake everything around you falls apart! Everything will fall apart! The twins aren't going to really want this sparkling if it's not theirs! They'll want to hide me like some shameful secret! Like I'm some sort of cheating whore!)**

 **(That's not true! Those two only want what's best for both of you! They've been so worried about you, even though they know that it's a possibility that this sparkling is not theirs! Doesn't that show how much they care about you?!)**

A soft whimper escaped her as she ripped her servos away and turned on her other side, burrowing further under her blankets in an attempt to hide. **(They won't…)**

I quickly stood up and followed after her, desperate to do something to show her that this delusional reality that she feared would come, was just in her helm. That it would never come true, and she'd never have to face something like that ever again.

Ever so carefully, I crawled up onto the berth and folded my legs up under myself, getting comfortable at the head of the berth. Then I gently lifted her helm and moved it into my lap, ignoring the way she tensed at that first touch, and caressing her audios soothingly. She didn't fight to get away from me like I expected her to, but her frame did lock up and her venting increased exponentially.

 **(Be at ease sweetspark, it's only me.)** The tension in her frame didn't fully ease at my reassurance, but it lessened minutely. I continued stroking her helm as I thought over everything she'd said to me during this conversation. She was insecure, and downright terrified because of what her real Sire had done to her and her carrier, and the trauma of what had happened left a permanent scar on her psyche. It was like she couldn't contemplate any other outcome to what was happening now as a result, only living in the delusions and horrible memories in her processor. What I did know, was that nobot in her life now would ever hurt her that way again.

And most definitely not the twins… As much as I hated to admit it at first, they loved her, and only wanted the best for her no matter what. They took good care of her, and cherished her as a good mate should… It was something I never expected from them after knowing them for all these millennia… But with how they'd acted after the assault, and subsequent revelation of Athena being sparked, I could safely say they would accept her no matter the outcome and care for her to the best of their abilities. It made me feel… strangely confident about the whole situation, despite the pain of knowing what she'd been through. They could help her heal. Now I just had to make her believe the truth…

 **(Athena, I know that you're scared and I can't blame you after what you've been through. But I will tell you this; nobot will hurt you that way again. Optimus and I will always accept you no matter what, and we'll take care of you despite any outcome. We love you like you're truly bound by spark and coding, and we wouldn't trade you for the world. I know that everybot else who knows you feel the same way, all of your friends, and fellow Autobots on base care for you. You're so sweet, and they know that they can always count on you for anything. We all just want to look out for you and help you now, and that includes the twins.)**

At my mention of the twins her frame locked up, and she looked up at me with wide, scared optics. Coolant was practically spraying out of them like twin geysers, the bronze liquid splattering against my bright pink armor. I didn't care though.

 **(They love you. I can clearly see that now, and it's because of how worried they've been about you. Optimus and I talk to them daily to see how you're doing, and they've been doing everything they can to take care of you as best they can. Throughout all of this they never once expressed a desire to hide you away, or shun you for something you had no say in. They just want to take care of you and be with you, even if that means accepting a sparkling that isn't theirs. They're willing to adopt this sparkling and treat it like their own, if it means that you'll be happy. And it isn't impossible for them to love it either. Just look at how your Opi and I love you.)**

She shook her helm in denial, lips quivering as a soft keen broke free in time with the streams of coolant increasing in speed and thickness. **(No…** **They won't… I know how this works! When that moment comes, and they find out who the Sire is and it's not them… they'll disown me… It's like, when my Sire had to admit to his mate that he sparked my carrier… the fury she felt… carried on for as long as I was with them. Nobot ever moves on from betrayal like that…)**

 **(You didn't betray them Athena! You did not consent to this other mech and willingly allow him to take you! What your Sire did was shameful yes! But you are not like him! You did not do this of your own volition! How can anybot blame you for this? You're a victim! I know this! Optimus knows this! Your intended mates know this! None of us place any blame on you!)**

 **(You should…)** She whispered, before she ducked her helm and seemingly dismissed me.

I knew that what I said wouldn't sink in right away, but I'd hoped it would… How could she not see that none of this was her fault…?

Why?

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

We waited for close to a joor for Elita to come back downstairs, her bright pink form striding into the room to take a seat next to Optimus. I took in her distressed features, tightly clenched servos, and stormy blue optics.

Optimus gently laid a servo over one of hers. "What is wrong?"

She gritted her denta and growled angrily. "I know why she's being so persistent about all of us disowning her if the sparkling turns out not to be the twins."

I tensed, leaning forward as Sides did the same beside me, both of us eager to learn the reason for her refusal to listen to our attempts to comfort her. "What is it?"

"It's because of her real Sire!" She spat angrily, fists clenching with the urge to hit something. "He cheated on his mate and sparked Athena's real carrier behind her back! Then instead of accepting responsibility for what he did, he just threw them in a basement and locked them up! He abused them both and treated her like some dirty little secret that he resented with everything in him! She thinks that all of us will do the same to her because of it!"

"What…?" Sides trailed off in shock.

My optics narrowed as anger surged through me. "What did you just say…?" I bit out in a deathly quiet voice.

Narrow, rage filled optics met mine as delicate lips tilted up in a snarl. "Her Sire locked her and her carrier up in a basement and left them there to rot. He abused her and demeaned her for being an illegitimate sparkling. That's why she's so afraid and ashamed of all of this."

I let loose an enraged snarl. "Why that fragging sonuvaglitch! How the frag does somebot blame a sparkling for them not being able to keep their spike in their mate where it fragging belongs?! Sounds to me like he was a no good piece of waste that needed to be torn apart limb from limb!"

"I agree." She practically hissed. "He better hope that he's offline or I'll rip him apart!"

Sides slammed his fist into his palm and growled. "If he does turn out to be alive, we want a piece too!"

She huffed angrily, but then Optimus laid a servo on her shoulder and gave a firm squeeze. "Unfortunately, I doubt the mech is still online now Elita. If he is, we will find him eventually and ensure that he faces the harshest sentence possible for his indiscretions. But for now we have more important things to discuss remember?"

It seemed as if she relented from the subject, but her anger didn't dissipate at all. In fact, it seemed to grow even more if that were possible. "Yes I remember."

Optimus turned back towards us, his expression tight, optics belying a rarely seen anger that used to be out of place for him. "Hound identified Athena's attacker."

I leaned forward, lips parting in an angry sneer. "Who is it? Tell me so I can go rip him apart!"

"A mech designated Scourge. He was a newer recruit at the Autobot base."

I tensed when the image of that burly orange mech, pinning Athena's small frame down in the hall that day came racing back to me… Only this time the image shifted, and they were on the berth we left her on that morning, and this time I wasn't there to save her from him. I leaned forward and buried my face in my servos, tightening my grip to the point that I was almost gouging marks in the pristine metal in order to try distracting myself from the horrible images playing in my helm…

"I should've killed him that day… If I had this wouldn't have happened…"

Sides wrapped his arm around my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me, but I could feel him shaking from the anger permeating in both of us. "You didn't know he would go this far Sunny. Neither of us did… We both thought he got the warning loud and clear when you beat his aft the last time."

"That doesn't make it better Sides. I could've prevented this."

How could one moment make sure a big impact later? I mean, I knew that it could, but I never thought it would hurt anybot this much. I never thought that coward would come back and hurt her again. But he had, and now she was paying the price for it…

"What do you mean by that Sunstreaker?" Elita asked.

I vented harshly, looking up at the two guiltily. "Athena had problems with this mech before. Not too long after I started seeing her, I was walking through the corridors on base when I heard her scream. When I recognized it as her, I ran to see what was wrong and that fragger was pinning her down! He had her door wing in his grip and was yanking at it while a bunch of his friends were standing around laughing about it! I yanked him off of her and beat him to within an inch of offlining, and I told him to stay the frag away from her and we haven't had a problem with him since. In fact, none of us have so much as seen the mech around base lately! I thought he was listening and keeping his distance but…"

"Why didn't Athena ever come to us? Or go to Prowl? We all would've done something if she'd told us."

"She was embarrassed about it Elita. When I asked her she got defensive, and she outright refused to report it to anybot. I thought about dragging her to Prowl's office to force her to do something about it, but I didn't want to make her do something she didn't want to. Besides, I thought I could protect her from him so… I didn't push it like I should've." I trailed off regretfully. Now I was feeling even more guilt about everything… I could've stopped it before it got this far.

"Blaming yourself won't help her now Sunstreaker."

"I know that Elita… I just should've done something before… I can't stop blaming myself for what happened. Now more so than before. She's our intended! We're supposed to protect and take care of her and we failed so badly at almost every turn!"

"You cannot blame yourself for what somebot else did Sunstreaker." Optimus interjected. "You cannot cling to guilt over not knowing what would happen when you left her that morning. We cannot see the future and all it entails, all we can do is react to it."

I shook my helm and sighed. "I can't stop feeling guilt over it Prime… The fact of the matter is that I failed her…" Nothing would change that or erase the pain of realizing just how at fault I really was. The only thing I could do now was try and make up for it now… We needed to find Scourge and make sure he could never hurt Athena again. It was as good a conversation topic as any right now. "So what all did Hound pick up on at the crime scene?"

"He picked up on Scourge's scent… along with the scent of interface fluids and energon… Both Athena's and his, which was to be expected." Here his expression darkened, as did Elita's. "He also picked up on a third scent, along with interface fluids from an unknown femme bot."

"An unknown femme bot? Why would that scent be in there? We haven't had another femme in there for deca-cycles before we both started seeing her."

"It was fresh Sideswipe, from the same time span that the attack took place."

We both froze as what he was saying finally clicked into place… "Are you saying that Scourge wasn't alone…"

"and that he… fragged some femme right there after he attacked Athena?" Sides trailed off, finishing my sentence with an angry growl.

"That is what it looks like…" He trailed off, lips tilting down into an angry scowl. "We cannot identify who the femme bot was, and Scourge has gone missing. Hound tracked him to the tram station, but he lost the scent in the terminals, so it is plausible that Scourge boarded a tram and left New Iacon for good."

I bit my lip so hard that I drew energon. "So we don't know where the frag he could be?"

"Not currently. I have Jazz searching through the records for anything that could give us a lead, and I sent out word to any and all enforcement stations in the major cities to be on the lookout for him. Hound is currently out on a mission to gather any intel with Mirage, and as soon as they find anything they are to report in immediately."

"So we just have to wait while that fragger and his glitch run free after what they did?" I asked incredulously.

"Athena needs us now Sunstreaker. As much as I wish to be more productive, I know that her need of us is more important right now. She needs us to offer support, and to make her feel safe right now. We cannot do that if we leave to go searching for something we may never find. Hound and Mirage are two of my best spec ops soldiers, I am sure that they will find something of use. Have faith in their abilities and focus on making sure your intended knows she is loved and you will not force her to repeat her younglinghood, this time in the position of her own Carrier."

The reminder of the newest revelation of our intended's past had me clenching my servos, but it also steeled my resolve to take care of her to the best of my abilities. I'd never treat her like her carrier had been treated, and I'd never hurt the sparkling, even if it wasn't ours by coding. We made her a promise, and now more than ever we'd make sure that we honored it.

Optimus turned to Elita after the room fell into silence. "How is she now?"

"She's resting now. The stress got to her and she fell into recharge."

He stood up and tugged Elita up with him. "That is good. She needs all the rest she can get. We will come back and visit tomorrow, when she is hopefully more rested."

Sides got up and walked them to the door, while I leaned back against the couch and rubbed my face tiredly. I stayed in the same position for a few kliks, until my twin came back in and stopped beside the couch. "You just gonna sit there, or should we go upstairs and check on her?"

I just turned to stare at him. "We're not gonna fail again Sides."

"No we're not."

* * *

R&R! Lots of dark content in this one, but I did warn you. There will likely be quite a few rough patches from here on out too.


	42. Chapter 42: I Need You

Another late update. My apologies. I'm slowly losing any and all desire to write at all. So expect the updates to continue being late. Sorry. Anyways I do not own transformers, all rights for canon characters belong to Hasbro.

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

Between caring for Athena, and trying not to let our anger over finding out about some of her past take over, the next few days were rocky. Sunny was more sullen than normal, and Athena was even more reserved and quiet. She never left her room unless it was to wash up, and that was when I made her take an oil bath to help soothe her nausea and discomfort.

We hadn't asked her about what Elita said that day yet, mostly because we were worried the questions would stress her out. It was hard not to ask her though, because some pieces of the puzzle of her past were starting to click into place… And others were nagging at my processor, making me want to know if some of the suspicions that we hadn't confirmed, were true.

I shook the thoughts off as I made my way upstairs with another tray of energon for Athena, quietly entering her dimly lit room and sitting it on her nightstand. She was curled up under the blankets, only her helm visible while she recharged.

Her expression was pinched tight, optics quivering and her lips moved as she whimpered and squirmed under her blankets. I carefully sat down on the edge of the berth and gently shook her shoulder. "Athena? Wake up!"

She suddenly jerked upright, tearing herself away as her optics popped open and a terrified scream escaped her. She scrambled away from me and into the corner, armor clacking loudly against her protoform as she curled up in the corner and stared at me like I was about to attack her.

I stood up and held my servos up in a show of peace. "Easy Athena… It's just me…"

Her optics were near quivering in their sockets from fright, staring at me unfocusedly for a few kliks. She sat in her corner, venting loudly and shaking horribly, wings held tight against her back as if she perceived me as a threat. It bothered me to see her like this…

"Athena it's just me, Sides. You know me…" I cooed at her softly, in as gentle a tone as I could muster. From the corner of my optic I noticed the door slide open just enough for me to see Sunny peeking in, but he didn't make a move to actually come inside. Most likely because he knew that him entering the room might set her off again when she was in this state.

I nodded minutely to let him know that I needed a moment, and he repeated the motion, conveying over the bond that he understood. Then, I turned and slowly slid forward, carefully crawling up onto the berth. "Don't be afraid Princess…"

She whimpered softly and curled further into herself. "Please don't hurt me!"

I slowed down and inched forward, keeping our optics locked and smiling reassuringly at her, even though those words made my spark twist painfully in its' chamber. "I'd never hurt you Athena. You know that Princess."

"N-No…"

"Yes. I'll never hurt you." I slowly reached forward and laid my servo over her small one, curling my digits so they could twine with hers. Her grip tightened, claws digging into my palm until energon started leaking from the wounds. She just held me like that, shaking as she stared at me like she was trying to work out who I was, or whether I was really here at all. I didn't move at all. I just stayed still, the same reassuring smile on my face the entire time.

After almost an entire breem of painstaking waiting, she blinked and her optics before loosening her grip. "S-Sides…?"

I nodded, smile widening a bit more. "Hey Princess."

She slammed her optics shut and keened quietly. "I-It was j-just a ni-nightmare?"

"Yes it was just a nightmare Princess." I scooted closer and finally pulled her away from the wall, and she surprisingly let me for once with little fuss. Her wings did give a rapid flick that let me know she was nervous, but other than that she let me pull her into my lap… It was the first time I'd really been able to in quartexes… I'd missed it. She whimpered quietly, latching onto me like she was afraid somebot would come take her away. I slowly rocked from side to side, cradling her as gently as I possibly could. "It's ok Athena…"

Her door wings drooped and she suddenly buried her face against my throat and started crying. Coolant leaked down, pooling into my lap as the femme I held shook and sobbed into my chassis. "S-Sides…! P-lease don't l-let them h-hurt me anymore!"

"Nobot's going to hurt you anymore Athena." I shushed her.

She continued sobbing uncontrollably, mumbling incomprehensibly. I couldn't understand all of it, but I caught the words, _**'Please, don't, and it's dark.'**_ It didn't take a genius to know what she was talking about, and I bit my lip to keep from growling. "It's ok Athena. Everything is ok…"

All of a sudden her tanks started screeching, and she spun around, doubling over on her servos and knees as Sunny pushed his way in and grabbed a waste bin for her to purge into. He held it up for her as she doubled over and expelled what remained of the energon we'd given her last night in several thick torrents.

My twin rubbed between her shoulders, carefully avoiding her soft spot, but her wings came down and snapped over it anyways. He ignored it. "Get it all out sweetspark…"

She clutched onto the edge and dry heaved a few times, coolant dripping down over her cheeks and into the bin. Her vents screeched as she continued dry heaving for another klik or so, before she flopped down onto her side and curled into herself with a pained moan.

Sunny took a cleaning rag out of his subspace and started cleaning her face off with it. She just looked at him dazedly, but otherwise didn't comment or try to move away. She was probably too drained to even try right now. "Just relax Athena, that'll help the nausea pass."

"S-Sunny…" She rasped weakly.

He paused in what he was doing to regard her. "Yeah?"

"I-m s-scared…"

"Don't be. We're not going to let anything bad happen to you." He carefully picked her up, ignoring the way she tensed, and laid her down at the top of the berth. Pulling the blankets down, he carefully wrapped them around her and grabbed a cube of energon for her. "We're here to take care of you now."

She stared at him with the most fearful expression I'd ever seen on her face. "Y-You w-on't… h-hurt me?"

We both froze at the question, dread welling up in our spark at that terrified question. Sunny sat the cube he was holding down, before sitting on the chair we kept next to her berth and taking her small servo in his. "Athena, you already know the answer to that question. Why would you think for even one astrosecond that Sides or I would ever hurt you?"

He knew the answer to that question as did I, but Athena just stared at us as if she didn't know the answer to that anymore. She was so afraid and I could only imagine her looking up at somebot else like this, when she was small and defenseless, when that bot meant her harm… and there was nobot to protect her… Knowing that she had endured that, I could understand why she was questioning us now, even though it hurt to know that the trust we'd spent so long building was trashed because of what happened and due to her painful memories.

She shrugged further under the blanket and peered over the top, as if it was a solid wall that would protect her. "E-Everybot does…" She whispered so quietly it was barely audible.

I pushed off the wall and crawled up next to her on the berth. I carefully pressed myself against her side, shushing her when her terrified optics shot up to my face. "It's ok Princess. I'm not going to hurt you."

"S-Sides…"

"Shhh… There's no reason to think like that Athena. We'll never hurt you." I carefully laid my servo over her chassis and gently rubbed the smooth metal, leaning down to kiss the seams in her chest plates carefully. "We'd never hurt you, or our little sparkling. It's our job to take care of both of you, and we do it because we love you."

Her optics stayed locked on my face as I leaned down and pressed my cheek against her chassis so that I was looking up at her, my lips tilted up in a smile as I listened to the slightly frenzied pulsations of her spark. I wanted to reinforce the knowledge that we were here for the long haul into her helm, even if, deep in my spark I was truly hoping that this sparkling was ours and not her attacker's. There was no harm in that was there? We both knew it was a possibility that it wasn't ours, but we were willing to go through with this despite that. Why not show her that?

"I wonder if you're going to be a little mech or femme?" I mumbled against her plating. "I want a femmling as beautiful as her carrier, but a mechling as awesome as me would be cool too. I can't wait to find out what you are! Then we can start talking about designations for you!"

Athena just kept staring at me with wide optics, while I talked to the sparkling. It actually made me feel more confident and secure with what we were doing. We could do this. We could live with this and take care of this sparkling with her no matter what.

"S-Sides… W-What a-re y-you doing?" She mumbled disbelievingly.

"Talking to our sparkling. What does it look like Princess?"

"B-But… You don't… k-know…"

Sunny laid his servo over her upper chassis. "We don't have to know for sure, because we've already decided to take care of this sparkling no matter what."

"B-ut… it's not…"

I raised my helm and stared at her sudden confused expression. We'd said this to her too many times to bother counting, and she still didn't believe it? "It's not what Athena?"

She looked up at me with a haunted expression, darkening her bright blue optics until they almost looked hollow. "It's not supposed to work like that… You're not supposed to love me, or this sparkling now…" She whispered.

"Well we do." Sunny inserted seriously. "Regardless of how this turns out, we love you and the sparkling. Besides, there's every possibility that it could be ours. So why just assume otherwise?"

"You're… not supposed to…"

"Well we do. We're not your Sire Athena."

As soon as the words were out of my twin's mouth, she yanked herself away and scrambled into the corner, where she curled up and pulled her knees into her chassis. "H-how do you… k-know about hi-m…?" She stammered fearfully.

My optics softened as I reached out for her, only to stop when she snapped back as if I was trying to strike her. "Elita told us… She wanted us to be able to understand what you're going through better."

She started hyperventilating, her vents screaming as she expelled hot air in fast, rapid bursts. "S-She told you!?"

"Yes she did, because she wanted us to be able to help you better. Why didn't you ever tell us yourself?" Sunny asked her.

"I… don't even… want you to know now…"

I scooted closer to her. "Why?"

Her optics followed my movements warily. "Because… I didn't want you to know… what I am…"

"What you are?" My twin echoed quietly. "Athena you're a femme bot, not a _**'what'**_! You're more than what any of them made you out to be! You don't have to live your life based on what they thought of you! You're free to be who you want to be, and do what you want!"

I laid my servo over her knee, prompting her helm to suddenly whip around so that she was staring up at me fearfully. "What Sunny's trying to say, is we would never blame you for any of that, or hold it against you. We'd never treat you, or this sparkling the way you were treated because it's wrong. Sparklings have no say in how they are conceived, and sometimes the choice is taken from the carrier… like it was with you."

She ducked her helm and buried it against her knees dejectedly.

At least until Sunny crawled up on the berth and took her face in his servos and eased her helm up so that she had to look at him. "Nothing that happened was your fault Athena. When we tell you this, it's because we really mean it. Neither of us hold anything from your past against you, and if you still need convincing just look at Optimus and Elita." She visibly tensed at the mention of her adoptive creators, but Sunny pushed on without pause. "If they were ashamed of you, do you really think they'd be so worried about you? They come to see you almost every day. They've invested every available resource to catch the mech who attacked you. What does that tell you about them?"

"I… know that they love me…" She mumbled quietly. "But… sometimes I can't convince myself that they won't turn on me. I can't stop the memories from taking over, and they warp everything I thought was safe. I'm scared that, no matter what everybot says, if this sparkling turns out not to be yours… they'll all judge me. No matter what anybot says… I'm terrified of that."

That was the most she'd spoken in quartexes, and it really gave us an idea of what she was thinking. Elita was right. Her past had traumatized her to the point that she almost couldn't fathom anything other than the horrors her processor was conjuring.

"What would it take to convince you that we won't hate you no matter what happens?" I asked.

"I…" Her optics slammed shut, and her vents stuttered as she swallowed harshly. "Promise you won't abandon me… no matter what happens?"

I turned and opened my arms for her, smiling and waiting patiently while she stared at me uncertainly. "C'mere Princess." She slowly slid forward and crawled up over my legs, one micron at a time, until she reached my lap and I was able to wrap my arms around her. I pressed my cheek against the top of her helm and gave her a gentle squeeze. "We're never going to abandon you Princess. No matter what happens, always trust in that."

She didn't respond… and I could only hope that she took what we said to spark…

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

A few more days passed and little changed outside of Athena actually talking to Sides and I a little more. She was still holed up in her room much to our chagrin, but with a little more time I was sure she'd come around. At least I was hoping so…

Sides was at work right now, and I was in the living room watching TV while Athena napped. I'd taken her energon and supplements up to her a joor or so ago, and she'd managed to keep most of it down, then she'd fallen into recharge so I came back down so she could have peace and quiet to rest. It was pretty quiet save for the chittering of Sparky and Topaz, both restless and antsy from being cooped up in their cages for too long. I would've let them out, but every time we did Sparky would attack us. I didn't feel like going through that right now…

I leaned my helm back against the couch and sighed tiredly. Maybe I should paint something? I didn't really feel like it, but it was better than sitting here doing nothing…

A soft clacking sound had my helm snapping towards the stairway just in time to see a familiar face peer around the corner at me. I sat up fully and stood up to face my intended as she hid behind the corner. "Athena? What are you doing up?"

My question may have sounded hesitant, but I was actually glad to see her out of her room for something other than showering.

She shifted nervously, door wings twitching and fanning out like umbrellas, before jerking back down against her back. "I-I couldn't… r-recharge anymore… so I wanted… to come downstairs…"

"That's fine sweetspark. You can come down here anytime you want."

I watched her slowly inch around the corner, it not escaping my notice that she glanced towards the basement door warily and it made me want to hit something. I had to force myself to smile reassuringly as she scurried passed me. Topaz and Spark started going crazy in their cages at the very sight of her, chittering loudly and gnawing at the bars in an attempt to get out.

Athena glanced over at them, wings hiking up as she bypassed the couch and let her stream gliders out of their cages. Both screeched and scurried up onto her shoulder so that they could nuzzle her cheeks, the sound of their chittering reaching near deafening levels. Despite everything that had happened, her lips tilted up at the edges in a tiny smile while she carefully took turns petting each of them.

She turned and sat on the opposite end of the couch, petting Sparky who was laying in her lap, while Topaz looked on from her shoulder. My intended slowly took her time stroking up and down Sparky's back, until he stretched out languidly, apparently desperately craving her attention. She had a miniscule, nervous smile playing at her lips as she scratched behind his audios, then reached up with her free servo to do the same to Topaz.

I sat down next to her. "Are you feeling ok?"

"I-I'm… ok… just a-a little… nauseas…" She stammered. It reminded me of when I first met her and she couldn't speak a single sentence without stuttering… When we first met I thought it was cute, but I didn't like her doing it now because I now knew the reason why she did it to begin with. I wanted to ask her about her Sire and the things he did to her, but I didn't want to push her right now.

There wasn't any time to either, because the sound of the front door opening registered as Sides came in from work. I was already aware that it was him, but Athena obviously did not, because within an astrosecond she whimpered and scrambled behind me, practically burying herself between the couch and my back.

I didn't even have time to react to it before my twin made his way into the living room, only to stop and stare at the barely visible door wing of our intended as it stuck up over my shoulder. **(She came downstairs!)**

 **(Yes she did, and now she's hiding again.)**

He scratched the back of his helm sheepishly. **(I didn't know she was going to be down here, otherwise I would've called from the door to let her know it was me!)**

 **(It's fine Sides. You didn't know.)**

I turned and carefully nudged her. "It's just Sides. C'mere sweetspark."

Fearful blue optics peered up at me from underneath the shadow cast by her chevron, she glanced at Sides as he peered over my shoulder, smiling reassuringly at her. Her door wings hiked up once, sitting fully and painfully erect as she stared between the two of us uncertainly.

Sides noticed this and quickly found a way to distract her by grabbing Topaz from her. "I see you let the gliders out to play. They missed you!"

Athena blinked and some of the tension in her frame dissolved a bit. She glanced down at Sparky, who she had clutched against her chassis in a death grip, and loosened her hold a bit so he could squirm out of her servos to scale up onto her shoulder. "I g-uess so…"

He smiled and sat down next to her. "How are you feeling today?"

She grimaced and rubbed at her abdominal plates tenderly. "Nauseas… tired…"

"That's normal for this stage in your gestation." Sides trailed off, then he snapped his digits as if remembering something. "Oh but I talked to Ratchet today and he gave me some tablets that you can take with your energon! They dissolve in your tank and make it easier for you to break down your energon! It should help with the nausea some!" He pulled a small package out of his subspace and flipped it over so he could read the label on the back. "It says one every four joors to help with nausea. So you can take one at each refueling if you need to."

I reached for it and he handed it over so I could skim over the directions as well. There weren't any horrible side effects to using them. She could get a little more fatigued by taking them, but that wasn't bad considering she needed as much recharge as she could get. "You need your energon in a bit. I'll give you one then."

She nodded, stroking Sparky's helm lovingly as I sat the package down on the table. After a moment she turned and placed him down on the table so that he could run off and play with Topaz.

The room grew silent, save for the chittering of the stream gliders as they played, or the nervous clicking of her wings as they twitched periodically and the tips smacked together. It was an awkward and heavy atmosphere, none of us talking as Sides and I just stared at her, while she stared at the TV to avoid our stares.

Questions were racing through our processors, passing back and forth through the bond until the desire to ask was almost maddening. I bit my lip to keep from saying anything at all, and Sides was surprisingly able to do the same.

That's why it was so surprising when it was Athena who broke the silence. "C-Can you two p-promise me something?"

I was surprised she'd spoken. "Yeah sure."

She brought her servos into her lap and started ringing them together nervously. "Y-You say that… you want… to stay with me re-gardless of w-hat's happening… But I… need you to p-promise me something… If you ever… have a change or s-spark… and you decide you don't want to d-do this… promise me that you'll just let me go?"

I just stared at her… A few quartexes ago I would've thrown a fit at the insinuation that we'd have a change of spark, or I would've hastily convinced her that we wouldn't… But now that I knew the reason why she was so afraid, I wanted to put her fears to rest for good. We weren't going anywhere!

"We already told you that we're not your Sire Athena." I told her seriously. "We're not judging you for this, and we're not going to hurt you because of it. Why don't you believe anything we say? Do you not trust us at all anymore?"

"You said that you'd accept this…" She started quietly. "But… what I need to know now, is that you won't force me to stay here if you decide that you can't handle this. I need to know that if things go bad… you'll let me leave."

"No we won't let you leave."

Her helm snapped up at my forceful response, a twisted combination of fear and desperation blooming in her optics. I leaned forward and grabbed her, pulling her onto my lap before she could even think of bolting. I grabbed her chin and forced her to look at me. "Listen to me Athena. I know that you're scared because of your past. I know that you can't help but to think that those things will start happening again, but they won't. We're not going to get second thoughts about this. We're not going to suddenly decide that we want out. We've already decided to stick with you through all of this, no matter what happens. We're not going to hide you away like a dirty little secret, or abuse you because of this! We won't take our anger out on this sparkling even if it isn't ours! Do you know why? Because it's not this sparkling's fault! It didn't ask for this anymore than the rest of us did! How could we ever blame it or you for anything that happened? How could we hurt either of you over it? We're not your Sire! We don't blame you or hate you for this! So this promise you want us to make doesn't matter, because we're not leaving and you're not leaving us!"

By the end of my little tirade I was venting harshly, and she looked shocked. I'd rather see that then blatant fear though! I was tired of her being scared of us, even if I logically knew she couldn't always help it! We weren't going to hurt her!

 **(Maybe we all need to calm down a little bit Sunny? We all need to talk, without yelling.)**

 **(I know but… I'm just frustrated that she doesn't believe us!)**

 **(She's scared right now ok? This is a tough time for her.)**

My anger and frustration fizzled out as quickly as they'd come at that. Sides was right, and I'd already known that before I grew frustrated with her… She didn't need my attitude or temper right now, instead she needed gentle reassurances. Now if only I was better at them…

I sighed and looked down at her, the expression on her face still one of shock. "Athena… I'm sorry for-!" My words were cut off when she covered my mouth with her servo.

"Why?" She whispered. There was no question as to what she was asking…

I carefully moved her servo so I could speak. "Because we love you."

Her optics misted over, coolant pooling in the edges. "Why…? Why do you still… love me…?" She whispered again, her voice cracking and becoming laced with static.

Sides scooted closer and cupped her cheek, smiling down at her because she looked so lost right now… like she couldn't fathom that we did still love her. "Because you're meant to be our mate. We were born to love you. You're sweet and smart, beautiful and talented… To us, everything about you is just amazing, and we wouldn't let you go for anything."

She bit her lip and looked down. Coolant started trickling down over her cheeks as she shuddered and reached up to clutch at our servos in each of hers.

We sat there, quietly listening to her crying while offering as much comfort as we could just by being with her. She needed to start venting the pain. She needed to start letting it out as much as possible. If she held it inside of her and never let it go she'd never start to heal.

She pulled back and looked up at me…

Not speaking as the coolant kept spilling down her cheeks…

Her wide, pleading optics staring up at me in desperation…

Then I got a shock when she leaned up and gently pressed her lips against mine. It was chaste, just a soft press of her lips against mine… but the message couldn't have been louder…

' _ **Please don't leave me. I need you…'**_

I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her, gently kissing her back before pulling away.

"We're here to stay. You don't need to be afraid anymore."

* * *

R&R! I thought that was a good place to end it.


	43. Chapter 43: Ultimatum

Another update. Hope you all like it. As usual I don't own transformers, only the plot and OC's.

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

Sides and I were relaxing on the couch, neither of us having to work today so we'd lounged the day away. It was pretty late now, and Athena was upstairs resting, so Sides had decided to play COV to try killing some stress. I wasn't really paying much attention to him since I was busy sketching Athena's mating gift still. With everything that had happened I wasn't able to work on it at all in a while, so I was making up for lost time now.

Not that I was sure she'd be ready to bond or interface anytime soon… The thought made me want to growl, but I managed not to. We'd just have to be patient and work with her through her recovery, and then eventually we could go through with bonding. With time she'd reach that point, and we could hopefully resume life as normal.

Things had been a little better in the last quartex, ever since the talk we'd all had. Athena was coming around a bit more, and she would actually come down and spend time with us in the living room sometimes. It was slowly becoming a more normal occurrence, and we both really enjoyed those moments where she let her guard down just a little bit and allowed us in close.

It was better. Not completely, but at least a little bit.

"Sparkling steps Sunny." Sides muttered as he shot down an enemy player on the screen. "She's gotta come around at a pace that she feels comfortable with."

"I know that Sides. I'm the smart one remember?"

He snorted. "Yeah! How could I ever forget that?!"

I glared at him. "Sarcastic fragger!"

"I know you are but what am I?"

"Immature. That's what you are."

"Says the one that cries over his paint like a sparkling all the time." He shot back with a smirk, then he started laughing at me when I glared at him. As suddenly as it started, it quickly died down when his attention was drawn to something behind me. He smiled gently, and that was what told me who it was. "Hey Princess."

I turned to stare at her as she peeked out from behind the corner again, like she always did when she was about to enter a room. She never just went into any room in the house anymore, instead she'd stop, press herself up against something, then peer into the room as if to search for anything that was a threat to her. We'd told her countless times that we weren't going to let anything, or anybot into the house that would, or could hurt her. But she was extremely paranoid now… "Couldn't recharge anymore Athena?" I asked her as she slowly pushed off of the wall and approached the couch.

She shook her helm and sat down between us. "No. I had a nightmare and it woke me up…"

Sliding closer, I carefully grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into my side. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"N-No… I don't… want to…"

"Ok. I'm not pushing it." Though it did remind me of something that we had to talk to her about… Ratchet had asked me just yesterday when we were planning to get Athena started on therapy… It wasn't something that I really wanted to talk to her about right now…

Sides grimaced when he caught the direction my thoughts were taking. **(We kind of… have to though Sunny… Not only will Ratchet have our afts if we don't, but she really needs it.)**

 **(We could put it off a few more days…?)**

 **(Maybe. Yeah, let's just wait a few more days ok? I don't really want to ruin the moment now that she's down here.)**

 **(Agreed.)**

We both looked down when she murmured softly. "You're playing COV Sides?"

He blinked, and then looked at the screen where the main menu for the game was flashing. "Oh yeah. You were recharging and I got bored so I thought I'd play for a bit. Do you want to take a turn?"

She shook her helm. "No… but can I watch you play ARK?"

"Yeah sure." He got up to switch the games, then came back over and squeezed in against her other side as ARK loaded. "I'm so happy that Jackie saved this game and remastered it when we came back. Riding a rex is badaft, especially when they have their mech suit on."

"You can get a mech suit for them?"

"Yup! I designated my strongest Rex Grimlock Smash! That's because I just got the mech suit for him and I painted him to look like Grimlock!" My twin explained as he moved his avatar over to the rex he'd outfitted with mechanical armor, painted black, silver, and yellow to match Grimlock's colors as best the game would allow. It was in fact designated Grimlock Smash…

"I can't believe you called him that."

My twin just shrugged. "You should've expected it from me."

"I always hope that one of these days you'll prove me wrong."

Athena looked between the two of us, then shook her helm at our antics. "Sides is perfect the way he is, goofiness and all. You shouldn't hope that he'll change, just as he should never hope for you to change your arrogant introvertist ways." She trailed off quietly, then her lips twitched as if to lift up in a smile… but it never happened. Instead she seemed to deflate and curl in on herself a bit.

I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Athena…" I started, only to stop when the doorbell ringing ripped a startled squeak out of her as she scrambled forward and all but clambered into my lap, plastering herself so close that I could feel the vibrations of her armor in my protoform as it clacked against her own. "Hey easy now…"

She whimpered and suddenly disappeared from my sight in an explosion of sparks, invisible but still clinging to me despite this.

"Athena it's ok. Just relax… You wanna get that Sides?" I asked when the bell started ringing repeatedly, as if whoever was pushing it was agitated.

"Yeah I got it." He got up and quickly skirted by us to answer it.

As soon as he did that Athena sprung off my lap, but I had no idea where she went. She was just gone in an astrosecond! I stood up and looked around the room, even though I didn't expect to be able to see her since she was invisible. "Athena?"

While I was looking for her I heard Sides talking to somebot in the entry way, it sounded like Ratchet. What the frag was he doing here? They both came into the room an astrosecond later. "Where's Athena at?" Sides asked when he saw I was standing up.

"I don't know. She got up and ran."

Ratchet sighed. "She used to do this a lot when she first came to the Autobot base." His optics started glowing as he scanned the room.

"She used to do this?"

"Yes. She was more skittish than a circuit deer in headlights. The slightest noise, or somebot even looking at her would send her running." He grumbled, then stopped. "She's hiding underneath the table that Sparky's cage is sitting on."

We both looked in that direction, but of course we couldn't see anything. It was surprising that Athena could even fit into such a cramped space, even given her small size. I walked over and knelt down next to it, reaching underneath to feel for her which wasn't hard considering she took up the entirety of the space available. My servo immediately ghosted over her arm, and she squeaked and jerked, slamming her helm into the bottom of the table. "Athena come on out! It's just Ratchet!"

She whimpered fearfully, but then she peeked out from under the table.

"See? You're perfectly safe Athena." I held my servo out for her to take, pulling her out from her hiding spot after she slid her small one into mine. I helped her stand up, and she unsurprisingly ducked behind me. Instead of trying to force her to stop, I just turned towards Ratchet. "So… what's the visit for?"

The glare that I was rewarded with for that question could melt Megatron's hide. "I came to talk to Athena about attending therapy sessions with Smokescreen, since you two weren't inclined to broach the subject with her."

As soon as the words were uttered Athena tensed against my back and whimpered. "No…."

"Athena you need an outlet. I already spoke to Smokescreen and he readily agreed to be your therapist." Ratchet argued.

She dug her claws into my back and snapped. "I don't want to!"

"You need to Athena. The stress is not good for you, sparked or not."

"I SAID NO!"

I jolted at the sheer volume of her scream, as did Sides and Ratchet. My protective instincts kicked in and I turned to pull her against my front. Glaring at Ratchet warningly over my shoulder. "That's enough Ratchet! You're stressing her out more by pushing it!"

He scowled at me. "Sunstreaker this is important! I'm only pushing this for her own good!"

"But you can't make her do something she doesn't want to do Ratchet, and obviously she doesn't want to do this. Forcing her is only causing her more stress, so it's counterproductive to what you want to do." Sides pointed out.

"Sideswipe you two are supposed to be looking out for her best interests! All you've been doing is coddling her, and putting off talking to her about something that's important! Do you understand how detrimental it can be for a carrier to be this stressed out when sparked? I'm only trying to explain to her that she needs this. It's very beneficial for her to have a safe place to be able to talk about what happened."

I couldn't argue with the fact that he was right about that, but when I looked down at her and saw her pleading expression, fearful optics spilling coolant like geysers, I felt my resolve strengthen. I turned back to look at Ratchet and shook my helm. "We're not going to make her do this. She needs to decide when it's the right time to talk about it. It's her choice."

"Sunstreaker…"

My anger spiked at his insistence, and I snarled. "No more! You're upsetting her!"

He released a moody huff and scowled at me, looking like he was ready to argue more but when his optics drifted over Athena, who was clinging to me and crying, he stopped and grumbled. "Fine. I won't push it today. But this isn't the last you'll hear about it."

I glared at him, but when he pulled out a package from his subspace and tossed it at me I stopped. "What's this?"

"It's a refill for all her prescriptions. I realized she would be running low by now, so I brought more over."

"Thanks." I muttered.

"She's due for her first appointment the quartex after next! Don't forget!" And with that he turned and stomped back out the way he'd come in, slamming the door on his way out.

Once he was gone I put Athena's medicine down on the table and ushered her over to sit down on the couch. I tugged her in against my side, and she quickly clung to me like I was her lifeline. "It's ok Athena. We won't let anybot force you to do anything you're not ready for."

She buried her face against my throat and whimpered.

I pressed my lips against her audios and whispered in a calming tone. "Hey, it's okay. Ratchet left. He's not going to force you to do anything."

"I… d-don't want to… t-alk about it!"

"Then you don't have to." I reassured her. One day she'd have to, but until she was ready to do it of her own volition nobot would force her. She'd been forced into things more than enough in her lifetime. Just like us… "You're alright. Everything's ok."

For a while we just sat there, Sides hovering off to the side, while I rocked her to calm her down. It took a few breems of quietly purring into her audios to calm her down enough that she stopped crying. But she still clung to me and wouldn't let go.

I looked at my twin. "Wanna get her energon and supplements for the night?"

He nodded and quickly left to get what I asked for, returning a few kliks later with two cubes of energon and her supplements. "Here you go Princess."

Carefully turning her in my lap, I let her lean back against my chassis as Sides handed her the tablets she needed to take. She wordlessly took them and popped them into her mouth, before washing them down with some of her mid-grade. Her tanks rumbled a bit, but she managed to keep what she'd taken in down, and proceeded to slowly drink as much as she was able.

Sides sat down next to us and took her small servo into one of his. "Are you feeling better now Athena?"

She shrugged. "Tired…"

He hummed quietly. "That's normal at this stage. It's late anyways. We should all go to berth."

"Yeah we should." I stood up and carried her upstairs to her room, carefully laying her down on her berth and covering her up. Before I left, I leaned down and kissed her fore-helm gently. "Try and get some rest ok Princess?"

She nodded, and I turned and made my way into the master berthroom. Sides was laying on the right side of the huge berth Elita'd picked up for us, staring at the ceiling with his arms cushioning his helm. He looked at me as I climbed into the opposite side and laid down, then down at the unoccupied space between us. "I miss having her in our berth…"

I grunted. "Eventually she'll be recharging with us again." Hopefully sooner rather than later.

"I wish she was here now though."

"Me too Sides. Me too…"

We lapsed into a heavy silence, neither of us able to recharge so we just stared up at the ceiling wordlessly. The bond was wide open, and our thoughts and feelings were passing back and forth without restraint, creating a dull hum.

The astroseconds ticked by on my chronometer…

One klik…

Two kliks…

Three kliks…

They kept ticking by, until almost a joor had passed and recharge still wouldn't come. I sighed and flopped onto my side with my back to Sides, only to freeze at the sight our intended peeking around the door frame. I tensed and propped myself up. "Athena? Is something wrong?"

The berth shook a bit when Sides sat up, both of us staring at her as she stood there anxiously. She hadn't so much as approached our berthroom since she'd been here… That's why I was concerned that there was something wrong.

Before I could ask her again she flicked her wings and fidgeted a bit. "Um…"

I blinked at her. "Yes?"

"C-Can I… recharge in here…?"

Instead of answering her verbally I sat up and pulled down the blanket in the center of the berth, patting the soft padding invitingly.

She stared at me, then looked back towards her berthroom nervously, then turned back towards us. "No interfacing…?"

"No interfacing. Not until you say that you're ready."

She pushed off the wall and scurried into the room, scrambling up onto the middle of the berth and curling up into a ball. Her shoulder wings clamped down over her vulnerable spot, and the waist set moved down to further protect her valve covering as well as she stared up at me apprehensively. I just covered her up with the blanket and laid down so that I was facing her, but not close enough that we were touching. Not for the first time I silently thanked Elita for the massive berth, and all the extra room it gave us. This way we didn't have to crowd her.

"Are you ok?" I asked, just to make sure.

"Yes… I just… was scared to be alone…"

I hummed quietly. "Well you're welcome in here anytime. You don't have to wait until you're scared to come in here."

"I know… I was just too scared to…"

I ran my digit over the sweep of her chevron gently, optic holding hers as she looked up at me timidly. "Don't be. Sides and I are here to protect you, not hurt you. You know that."

She snuggled down under the blanket. "I know…"

The berth creaked a bit as I scooted closer to her and carefully pressed myself against her, looping an arm around her waist so that I could hold her. "Then don't be afraid."

She tensed for a moment, but relaxed when I rubbed soothing circles on her lower back. Then she timidly pressed herself against me, tucking her helm under my chin and cuddling into me. I'd really missed this…

"Recharge well Athena."

* * *

 **(Sides' POV)**

A quartex went by and things were looking up a bit! Athena had moved back into the berthroom and was now recharging in there with us at night again, which Sunny and I were both pleased about. It felt nice to be able to cuddle up to her while we recharged at night! And she seemed a little less stressed, and a little more open during the day as well. It was a substantial improvement over how she'd been acting a few quartexes ago.

I walked out of the base after a long shift in the comms deck. It'd stretched on, and now all I wanted to do was get home and relax a bit before Sunny went in for the night shift. But first, I had to stop at the market and pick up some things. Maybe after I could go home and coax Athena into watching some movies, or playing some games with me. I wanted her to be able to do some things that would feel relaxing for her.

"Well I guess I can find out when I get back." I sighed as I made my way down the steps and started towards downtown.

"Sideswipe!"

I turned around as Arcee came running up to me. "Oh, hey Arcee. What's up?"

She stopped in front of me and put her servos on her hips impatiently. "Flareup, Mia, and I wanted to know if we could come over sometime today and see Athena?"

"Oh? Well I need to ask Sunny first, but I'm sure he won't mind since he has to work anyways. I should probably ask Athena too though, just to make sure that she's feeling up to it. She's really tired at this stage in her gestation."

"I figured…" She pursed her lips and glanced to the side. "How's she doing other than that? We haven't been able to come over and see her much these last few quartexes."

"She's doing a bit better actually. She actually moved into our new berthroom and is staying with us in there at night. I think that's a really good improvement honestly. Now she doesn't hide in her room all day, or get scared when we touch her." I smiled a bit, feeling a lot more hopeful since these changes started. You never knew how much you took something for granted until it was gone. We'd taken Athena's affection for granted, and without it I know I'd nearly gone crazy.

"That's good. I guess it means she really trusts you two."

"I hope so. Well I'll ask them both and make sure that it's ok, then I'll comm you?"

"Yes, that'll work. Thank you Sideswipe."

"No problem Arcee. Now I gotta head into the market and grab some things, so I'll talk to you after I get home?"

"Sure." She turned without another word and walked away, and I turned to make my way downtown towards the market place.

While I walked I went over the list that Sunny had left me. Energon reserves, energon candy for Athena, and some special oil for her baths. It was supposed to keep her joints from becoming too stiff, and that would keep them from becoming pained.

I made my way into the market place and the first place I stopped at was the general good store so I could grab Athena's oil bath, then I exited the store and made my way over to the energon stand to get our reserves.

"Ok… Oil bath, check. Energon reserves, check. Next I need to grab her goodies." With that I turned and made my way down the street towards the goodie stall. I made my way up to it and quickly bought the goodies she wanted, along with an extra bag just in case, all of which I slipped into my subspace.

My neck popped as I rolled my helm to get rid of the kinks there. I stopped at the edge of the road and transformed, taking off for home with a loud roar of my engine. There was little traffic so the trip back only took a breem or so at most. I pulled up in front and transformed again, making my way inside and wiping my peds off on the matt at the door.

Athena was sitting on the couch watching something on TV, with Sparky in her lap. She looked at me when I walked in, smiling timidly as I walked into the living room. "Hi Sides."

I leaned down and kissed her fore-helm, before plopping down next to her. "Hey Princess. I got you the goodies you wanted."

"Thank you."

"Where's Sunny?"

"Mmm… he went upstairs to take a shower." She murmured.

"Well I can ask him when he comes back down."

"Ask him what…?"

"Arcee asked me if she, Flareup, and Chromia could come over for a bit today." I smiled at her reassuringly when her optics widened fearfully. "I think it'd be nice for you to have some femme company don't you?" I pressed gently, not wanting to force it. But I really did think it would be good for her to start spending time with her friends again.

She looked at me from beneath the sweep of her chevron, wings sitting rigidly on her shoulders and waist. "W-What if… they don't… like me a-anymore?"

Her first response didn't surprise me in the least honestly. I expected some apprehension, fear, and anxiety from her even if they were her friends. She was nervous and paranoid about everything nowadays. "Athena, you know that they still like you. Arcee was worried about you when I talked to her earlier. She really wants to see you, and so do Chromia and Flareup."

"I'm not sure…"

I took her servo in mine and intertwined our digits together, giving it a firm squeeze to get her to look up at me. "I'll be here with you too you know? There's nothing to be afraid of. That's if you want me to have them come over. If not, then I'll tell them no."

Her wings flicked up once nervously. "You'll stay here with me?"

"I'll be here all night."

"Ok. They can come… if Sunny doesn't mind it…"

"Well we'll just have to ask him when he comes down won't we?"

"Ask me what?" My twin asked as he came down the stairs.

"Oh, Arcee, Flareup, and Chromia wanted to come over and visit Princess for a bit today. I told them I'd talk to you and Athena and let them know."

He raised an optic ridge at me. "Did you think I would say no or something? I'm going to be gone at work all night anyways!"

I shrugged. "I know that! But I figured I'd ask anyways. That way you don't get pissy about it later."

"I'm not going to get pissy about it." He grumbled.

"Well it'd be dumb if you did seeing as how you won't even be here."

"Exactly. So I won't be mad about something that doesn't even affect me. I will however, get mad if any of my stuff gets broken, or if I come home and Athena's stressed out for some reason."

"I'm gonna take care of her so don't be all crazy about it! What are a bunch of her femme friends going to do to her anyways?"

"I don't know, but she's delicate right now Sides! She stresses easily!"

"I'm aware of that! They're going to come over, talk for a bit, hang out, then leave. Simple! Then I'm going to make Athena take a bath and soak in her oil stuff that I got her, give her all of her supplements and energon, and put her to berth for the night! See? I've already got it all thought out!"

He eyed me like he didn't believe me, but then sighed tiredly. "Well as long as you make sure that you remember to do all of that, I don't have a problem with it."

"Of course I will!"

"You better. Now I've gotta go, otherwise I'll be late." With that he came over and kissed Athena's helm. "Take it easy and try not to stress too much ok?"

"I'll try not to." She whispered.

"Good. I'll see you after I get off work." With that he stood back up and turned to walk out after clapping me on the shoulder once. We watched him until he disappeared, the door shutting quietly behind him and leaving us in complete silence.

A few kliks passed before I turned towards her. "So… I'm gonna comm Arcee now ok? You want me to warm you up some energon too?"

She shrugged.

Standing up, I slowly ambled into the prep room and set about heating up some of her med-grade, and some normal mid-grade, and while I was doing that I commed Arcee. **:Sunny doesn't care if you come over, and Athena said yes too.:**

Her response came surprisingly quick. **:Ok. Well then, we'll be over in a breem or so ok?:**

 **:Alright. Just uh, try making sure that Flareup knows not to be too loud and boisterous right now. It'll make her anxious.:**

 **:She's already been told that she needs to behave.:**

 **:Ok cool. We'll see you in a few then.:** I cut the link after that and made my way back into the living room, only to freeze in my tracks when my optics landed on Athena gingerly rubbing her chassis. Normally I would think it was because it was hurting her, but there was a barely visible smile on her face and her optics were closed, and even from here I could hear her humming a bit. Not loud enough that I could make much out, but enough that I could tell she was doing it.

My lips spread in a wide smile as I approached her and sat the tray down, quiet enough that she didn't sense me until I sat down next to her. Only then did her optics pop open, the humming abruptly cutting off as she eyed me warily.

"Don't stop on account of me. The sparkling probably likes it."

"I don't think it can hear me yet." She mused.

"Well it might be able to! Here!" I slid onto the floor and turned to lay her out along the length of the couch, then I laid my helm down on her chassis facing hers. "I wanna listen too!"

Her servo ended up sliding up to rest on my cheek, her optics holding mine as she started humming a soft tune. It was a lullaby that was rather common all over Cybertron, nothing special to most. But the way she hummed it so softly, combined with the expression of calm on her face, soothed me and I let the tension from the day seep out of me as I listened to it.

I slid my servo up over her chassis and covered her small ones with it, smiling contentedly at her while I listened. If the sparkling could hear it, he or she must be happy at this moment. I know that I was…

It was so soothing that I ended up closing my optics and hovering on the edge of recharge for a while. I wasn't sure how long, the melody vibrating against my audio so soothing that I didn't care to keep track of the moments going by.

Not until I heard the sound of somebot knocking on the door. My optics snapped open as I sat up and looked towards the door with a sigh. "I guess the femme posse is here."

She smiled nervously and sat up. "I guess so."

"Don't be nervous Ati. You've hung out with your femme friends plenty of times before." I reminded her as I went to open the door.

The three femmes were standing there, so I stepped aside so that they could come in. "Come on in."

They skirted passed me and filed in one at a time, passing by and entering the living room where Athena was waiting. I closed the door and locked it, before following them into the living in time to witness Arcee pull Athena into a tight hug. Athena tensed a bit, optics shooting over towards me as if to make sure I was still here.

I smiled at her, nodding my helm towards Arcee to tell her it was ok.

She slowly wrapped her arms around Arcee's shoulders and hugged her back, but it was easy to see that she was tense still. Arcee seemed to sense this, and she pulled back to cup Athena's cheeks gently. "There's no need to be so tense Athena. You know that you don't have to be afraid of us."

"Sorry…"

"It's ok. Why don't we all just talk for a bit? We have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?"

Suddenly, I was on the receiving end of a look that clearly said, _**'Make yourself scarce for a bit please',**_ courtesy of all three of our guests. I raised an optic ridge at them in response, but didn't question it. Instead, I pushed myself off the wall I'd been leaning against and cleared my throat to get their attention. "I'm gonna head upstairs and take a shower. You four have fun talking. If you need me for anything just comm me ok?"

Athena looked at me pleadingly.

 **: You'll be fine Ati. I'm just going to take a shower, and then I'll be right back. If you need anything just comm me ok?:**

She bit her lip and nodded, so I quickly turned and made my way upstairs…

* * *

 **(Athena's POV)**

My spark pulsed in anxiety as I stared at the stairway after Sides disappeared, the feeling of him leaving me more unsettling than I wanted to admit. It left me feeling bare, alone, and vulnerable, even if I knew logically that Arcee, Flareup, and Chromia meant me no harm. The irrational part of my processor was filling me with anxiety and fear. It was hard to focus on staying calm…

The room was quiet, and though I wasn't looking anywhere but at the stairs, I could feel the stares burning into the side of my face and my venting deepened as my anxiety spiked. It was loud in the otherwise quiet room, gradually growing in volume until it was a steady humming that seemed to be echoing in my audios like a blaster going off.

All I could think about with them staring at me, was that they were judging me…

Always judging me…

A sudden weight settled on my shoulder, and I reflexively jerked away from it and threw myself into the corner of the couch. My optics locked onto Cee, her servo outstretched towards me, optics calm and reassuring as she stared at me, while Flareup and Mia hovered behind her. "It's ok Athena. We're not going to hurt you." She murmured softly.

I folded in on myself a bit despite her gentle tone. It was just my reflex reaction…

She raised an optic ridge at me. "Athena we've been friends for how long? How many millennia? I know you're not seriously afraid of us!"

Yes, I was afraid…

Afraid of being judged…

Always afraid of that…

Apparently that fear showed too…

"You need to stop being afraid of what everybot else thinks of you Athena." Mia suddenly broke the silence that'd pervaded since Cee's question.

I looked up at her, but I was the only one who did. Cee and Flareup were too focused on me, or maybe they already knew what she was thinking through the bond they all shared. Her words made me feel even more self-conscious… as if I was transparent and everybot could pick out all of my insecurities and fears. It made me feel even more defensive and scared…

Her optics narrowed a bit when my wings snapped down against my back defensively. "Athena I helped raise you. You know that I'd never hurt you, not only because Elita would have my aft, but because you're like a little sister to me. Now, we came all the way over here to talk to you, so talk to us femme!"

"Have some patience Mia." Flareup scolded her. Which was surprising given who it was coming from…

Mia ignored her and plopped down next to me, right against my side. "How have you been feeling then?"

I wanted to scoot away but Cee and Flareup sat down on my other side and boxed me in. It made me feel overwhelmed… "I've… been better…"

My response did garner a sympathetic look from her. "Being sparked is hard. The twins are taking good care of you though?"

"Yes…"

Flareup suddenly interjected, peering around Cee with uncharacteristic calmness. "It's good that they're being supportive of you when you need it Athena. Are they excited about the sparkling?"

I shrugged. "I'm… not sure… Sides seems like it… But I don't know why either of them would be… They don't even know if it's their sparkling…" My optics misted over a bit when my processor once again became stuck on that thought…

Cee scooted closer and nudged me to get me to look at her, my vision blurry because of the coolant pooling in my optics. "It doesn't always matter whether a sparkling is related by coding Athena. Optimus and Elita love you as much as any creator loves their sparkling, so why is it so hard to believe that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker can be the same way? If they love you, then they'll stick with you through this."

"This isn't like what happened with Opi, Danni, and I." I argued weakly. The situation was a lot different than that!

"That's true, but it doesn't mean that the twins have to react differently. They've been very mature about this whole situation." Mia argued.

"They might be acting mature now… but that's because they don't know for sure. There's always the chance that, if we find out that the Sire isn't them, they could change their processors." I argued.

"If it was me I'd put my fears to rest now. I'd merge and find out as soon as it was possible." She continued seriously. "The timing varies depending on the sparkling itself, but two quartexes is normally when it's possible to tell. You're about at that point."

My optics widened when what she was insinuating clicked in my processor. "You think that I should merge with them?! Like now?!"

She nodded. "Yes I do. There's no sense beating around the bush Athena. The sooner you find out, the sooner you know for sure and can stop stressing about it."

The idea of doing that… I was so scared of it…

Scared that it would confirm my worst fears…

That the cluelessness that was both terrifying, and one of my only securities would suddenly be gone and I'd be left in a free fall of despair.

Could I really face that…?

I buried my face in my servos and shook my helm. "I'm scared…"

Gentle arms wrapped around my shoulders and tugged me into a familiar embrace, and I just let it happen… "Athena, it's better to know and get rid of the doubt than keep living with that insecurity." Cee murmured against my audios. "You know that we'll be here for you no matter what happens right?"

Coolant started leaking down my cheeks, vents hitching quietly with each restrained sob. "I don't know…"

"What's the worst thing that could happen if you did this and it turned out that the sparkling wasn't theirs?"

I wiped the coolant off my face and sniffled. "They'd hate me."

"They won't." Cee argued. "I can tell you right now that that'll never happen. Athena, those two mechs love you enough to stick with you through this. They've never stuck with a femme for this long in the entire time that I've known them, it's almost unbelievable. If they were going to leave they'd have done so already."

"But they don't know for sure!" I argued.

"They still know it's a possibility, and they could've just ended it in the face of that possibility. But they didn't. They haven't, and they've been taking good care of you this whole time. If they weren't serious they wouldn't be doing this. So tell me, what are you so afraid of?"

Everything… Finding out for sure that it wasn't their sparkling…

Facing the consequences of that revelation…

The looks of hate that would come afterwards…

And the loneliness and pain that I'd face…

I didn't want to lose my mechs…

I needed them…

"I'm afraid that they'll hate me…" I whispered.

"They won't hate you Athena."

"They will…"

Servos slid over my cheeks, tilting my helm back far enough that I was forced to look into Cee's sky blue optics. They were reassuring, yet a tad bit stern and serious as well. "They are not going to do that. You can't just assume that right now Athena!"

"Well what else am I supposed to do?!" I yelped hysterically.

"Merge with them and at least put your uncertainties to rest."

"I can't… I'm scared to…"

She sighed, her expression suddenly becoming stern. "Eventually you'll find out Athena. Why wait until the sparkling is born? It's best just to do it now and put all of your fears to rest. Do you really think the twins aren't scared too? I bet they want to know more than anything."

That thought brought me up short… Neither had pestered me to merge so we could find out if the sparkling would link to them… but was it possible that they could want that as much as Cee was suggesting they did? They just acted like… it didn't matter at all… Were they afraid too?

I bit my lip and glanced towards the stairway, then back at Cee again. "You really think they want to know that badly…?"

She nodded. "Yes. Absolutely. They're ready to accept whatever outcome happens, but they'd still like to know I think. Any respectable mech in this situation would Thena."

My spark pulsed in anxiety, sending a surge of nervousness through my frame. "You think so…?"

"Absolutely. I think that would put a lot of their fears and guilt to rest. And think of it, wouldn't it be better to know and be able to move on and start really being happy about this sparkling?"

I looked down at my lap. "If it's theirs then yes… But I'm too afraid that it's not…"

"I think it is."

My helm snapped up, optics widening as they locked on Mia. "What? Why do you think that?"

"Because that's just what I think."

I let my face fall back into my servos dejectedly. "Mia… that doesn't make me feel more confident about this!"

"The only thing that's going to make you feel more confident is doing it."

"And if it turns out that you're wrong?" I challenged her.

She shrugged. "Then nothing changes from how it already is now I bet."

Cee smacked herself in the fore-helm. "Mia…"

"It's true and you know it. At least then they'll all know for sure and the fear of not knowing will be gone."

"You could try having more tact."

"I don't do tact Cee."

I sighed despondently. Now the idea was in my helm, and I was still terrified of it… But Mia's words did ring true… I had to ask myself if I really wanted to wait until way later in my gestation, or even until the sparkling was born to find out who its' Sire was… If I found out now… there would be the initial reaction, good or bad depending on what happened… and then… our relationship would either change for better or for worse… Or as Mia seemed to think, worst case scenario it'd stay as it was now…

Would it be better to just… know…? I could hope that it was my intendeds' sparkling, and cling to that hope when and if I approached them… But my carrier knew the whole time… and look at what happened to her…

' _ **Sides and Sunny aren't like that though… Sire threw Danni down into the basement as soon as he found out she was sparked… They haven't so much as looked at me like they wanted to hurt me… And they want to know... They won't be mad at me… they promised not to… But they could be happy if it's theirs too…'**_

I knew what I wanted…

I knew what they wanted…

Now I just had to find out if that was happening…

I was scared, but it was something I had to do…

* * *

 **(Sunny's POV)**

The hallway was dark as I trudged out of the wash rack after a long, satisfying shower. Sides and Athena were recharging, and I was being quiet so as not to wake either of them. I made my way downstairs to grab a cube of energon, then walked back up to the berthroom. It was after sunrise… and I was tired…

I carefully entered the berthroom and shut the door, before making my way over to sit my cube down on the nightstand. Then I pulled the blanket down and climbed up onto the berth, mindful of Athena who was laying with her back to me, her face buried in Sides' neck as he recharged peacefully.

Athena squirmed a bit when the berth shook, causing me to freeze and inch onto it more slowly… I managed to get on without causing it to move or creak again, and I carefully pulled the blanket over myself so that the movement wouldn't wake her. I leaned back against my pillows and sipped at my energon quietly, listening to the quiet sound of venting coming from my twin and our intended.

Both seemed to be recharging so peacefully at the moment…

So it was quite a surprise when the small purple femme laying curled up between us turned to face me, her optics wide open and staring up at me. "Athena? What are you doing up? Did I wake you?"

She sat up. "No. I couldn't recharge…"

"Why? Were you having nightmares? You should've woke Sides up if you were."

"I wasn't…"

"Then why are you awake? You need all the rest you can get." I scolded her.

She looked over at Sides and nudged him until he snorted and jolted up from the berth. "Wha happn?!" His optics drifted down over her and he seemed to wake up more fully after a moment. "Ati? What's going on?"

That was what I wanted to know too!

Athena scooted up a bit on the berth and twined her servos together on her lap. "I…" She trailed off nervously.

This had Sides sitting up fully. "Ati? What is it?"

She glanced between the two of us nervously, but seemed to be afraid to continue with whatever this was…

I laid my servo over hers to get her to look up at me. "What's wrong?"

"I… want to… merge…" She whispered so quietly I almost couldn't hear it.

But I did, and it had me stiffening as the words registered in my helm. "You want to… merge?"

She nodded, even as Sides' jaw dropped and he stared at her in disbelief. "Yes I want to… I… want to know whether this is your sparkling or not." While she was talking she eased one of her servos out from beneath mine and gently laid it over her chassis.

I had to process what she was saying for a moment, then I looked up at Sides who glanced up at me as well. We didn't need to think about what we wanted, because we wanted to know if this sparkling was ours from the very beginning… But now that we were faced with the opportunity… we were both nervous about the outcome of going through with this.

I'd thought about it… about what would happen if we found out… Until now, not knowing had been both a good and bad thing in its' own way. What if it wasn't ours though? How would that change things?

 **(It won't change anything Sunny. We already promised.)**

 **(I know. I'm just nervous now…)**

 **(I am too, but I want to know. We're staying either way, so why not find out for sure? I know I'll be happy if it does turn out to be ours.)**

I looked down at Athena, who was looking up at me with barely concealed anxiousness. She needed this too… and that was what had me making up my processor. "Ok. If you want to do this we can… But only if you're sure."

"I do… Just… I don't want to interface yet though, so just sparkmerging."

I nodded, then carefully pushed her to lay down on her back. "Ok, no interfacing then."

She smiled nervously, wings straining against the berth a bit in response. "Thank you."

"It's no problem Ati." Sides told her as we leaned up over her. Her venting became more labored as a result of us boxing her in, optics darting between us warily.

"Don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt you." I reassured her as I drew my chest plates back, then I carefully tapped hers. "Open."

She complied and opened her chassis, revealing her bright spark, the small ball of life energy floating and bobbing up and down around it was clearly visible. I stared at it longingly, hoping for the best…

"Ready?"

"Yes…"

As soon as she acquiesced we both leaned down and allowed our sparks to merge with hers. The familiar hum of her energy melding with ours sending a pleasant surge of energy coursing through our frames.

I felt it, but didn't allow the normal reaction of sparkmerging to overcome me, instead focusing on trying to locate the sparkling's life force so that I could try linking to it. It didn't take long for us to find that tiny, wildly fluctuating ball of life that was going to be a huge part of our life from now on…

It brushed against our spark, almost inquisitively. That was my best guess anyways... but until we established the link I couldn't tell for sure…

We focused on it and allowed tendrils of our spark energy to wrap around it…

Hoping that it would become a part of us again as well, and put all of our fears to rest… It would either repel us… or accept us…

Something shifted, my optics snapping open in response as I reared back a bit and stared down at Athena… She stared up at both of us with wide optics…

"Athena…"

* * *

R&R! I'm leaving you guys on a cliffhanger! XD


	44. Chapter 44

AN! I should start off by saying that I most likely won't be continuing these stories but I'm putting them back up so you all can read them! If I move to another account I may repost the newer, edited version on there. If I do I will let you know! At this point I don't know if I can keep posting things for my characters because I feel like any changes I make aren't worth it, or will just be used by other people at their own discretion. For about a year I've struggled to write, something that has bothered me a lot since writing has always been so therapeutic for me. It's like I've lost an important outlet for everything that's gone wrong in life, and that's really stressful. So I may start over, move to another account that I've made. If I do I will be posting OC/Canon stories still, but my OC's also have OC mates as well so I'll be posting things for those as well. If anyone wants to knw my new account let me know!


	45. Chapter 45

An update to everyone that followed me on this account, I've moved over to a new account called Echoshock24. I've already posted the first bit of the rewrite of SO/WTWTCH on there. It's title is Duality, and I like to think it's an improvement from what I was writing when I first started it. There's a better plot to it, and I'm putting a lot of time in to typing each chapter. I won't have daily updates which I apologize for! But I'm hoping to make up for it in quality! If you guys want to follow me on there please do so! Let me know how you like my new writing style. Idk if it's really changed that much but to me it really feels like it has.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!


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